An Ahamkara's Rider
by Paragon of Lore
Summary: He had fought through everything the Darkness could throw at him, no matter the challenge, he would always prevail. But what happens when a mysterious Vex construct decides to throw him into a new world, where he is left with only the guns on his back, the voices in his head, and his Light. Will he be consumed by the Darkness? or will he protect his friends from the will of Fate?
1. Welcome To Nessus, Home Of Time Crap

Cannons of Void and beams of Solar were flashing around him, with the occasional Arc shot for good measure, the Vex temple slowly turning more and more into a desecrated battlefield, with Minotaur's and Hobgoblins spraying his position with constant fire, meaning any chance he had to shoot back was instantly crushed, and to make matters worse, the voices in his head wouldn't stop complaining about it.

"Honestly I can't believe you keep getting us in these situations." Spoke the little golf ball sized super computer next to him, voice carrying a hint of mirth, and slight disappointment.

Another voice joined in, sounding young and female, while carrying a large amount of innocent concern only a child could produce. "Just don't get shot, alright?"

As if he was supposed to know the Vex would once again reappear when he cleared them out.

He clutched the bundle of light in his hand, waiting for the opportune time to unleash his power, but first, he had to figure out how to get some cover fire out, before his little Lightbulb got even more snarky. He lifted his hand cannon, the Fatebringer resting in his hand, and prepared to let lose some death.

He shade stepped to the left, narrowly missing a Minotaur blast, before he set his sights on the nearest threat, a Hobgoblin, only just catching on to its demise, before it found its chest ripped to shreds by the Fatebringers explosive ordinance, he switched his aim, sighting in upon a pair of Goblins, he released two more shots from the hand cannon, also ending their robotic lives, but before he could celebrate, he found himself once again being targeted by the Minotaur's, only this time, he was ready.

He intensified his grip upon the ball of light in his palm, shattering it with his Light enhanced strength, and felt the power of the Traveler fill his body.

He focused on that power, channeling it into his arms, his legs, his very soul, and swam through it, putting his sights on the electricity within him.

His body began to glow, Arc energy flowing over his body, enhancing his strength to even larger degrees, making his body faster, more resilient, and more importantly, allowing him to flood his system with the power of Arc.

A staff formed into his open hand, Fatebringer safety transmatted into his inventory, and he begin to glow even brighter, blocking out any shot that managed to reach him, and blinding the optics of the vex for a brief moment.

When they could see once again, they found death amongst them.

The Hunter was wading between them, a staff made of pure Arc energy clutched in his hand, expertly dodging and weaving between the hive mind like Vex platforms, somehow seeming to sense the bolts and explosives that were coming in from all around him. He was decimating them, every twist of his staff brought death, every leap brought him closer to his next target, and every flicker of his Light cast out the robots attempting to kill him, he was lost in the moment, Arc energy casting out all worries, all doubts, and leaving behind nothing but warm peace.

He attempted to enjoy the feeling of it, soaking it all up before the inevitable end to his glorious killing spree, and when it did come, he let it go, watching as the last of his enemies died, and his ethereal glow became a small flicker.

He sighed, taking a look around at the devastation he had caused.

The once pristine Vex building was now covered in scorch marks, the lights to the room having been mostly disabled by his intense channeling of Arc energy, leaving the enclosed room once again in near total darkness, and letting his Ghost finally come out of where he had been hiding.

He looked around, taking in all of the broken Vex pieces that the Hunter had left behind, before floating closed to his helmeted face and speaking. "Well, it certainly was a good lightshow, I would maybe tone down the jumping, makes you look like a monkey." He finished, voice smug and snarky, making his Guardian sigh.

He walked over towards a section of stone, lifting his prosthetic Vex leg and checking to make sure it hadn't been damaged in the firefight, keenly aware of the two presences attempting to get his attention.

"Stitch, check the area, I don't want any more surprises, and be thorough! I swear if you let another Goblin in here…" The hunter spoke, leaving his threat unsaid, of course it was a hollow one, but he really was tired of getting ambushed when he decided to take a nap.

He turned his attention back towards his leg, noticing a small scorch mark, most likely from when he had used his Super, it was sloppy work, but he was tired and he wanted to finish the fight quickly.

He sighed, finally acknowledging the tiny voice casting itself into his mind, before he gave a look at his bone covered arm and leg, and tried not to roll his eyes.

Io was a mystery, even to Stitch, no member of the Vanguard had ever encountered a child Ahamkara that could talk, although with the Vanguards shoot first, check to see if peaceful attitude, he wasn't really surprised that no one had seen anything like Io.

She was much like him, she couldn't remember her species extinction, nor did she want to, from the reports of Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin, it was a brutal hunt for any of her kind, with most of the kills being very… inhumane.

Of course he kept Io a secret from all of the Vanguard members, using bones of the Ahamkara was already heavily frowned upon, but using ones that could talk to you? They were to be destroyed on sight, of course he always was one to break the rules, it was why Cayde and him got along so well.

Stitch knew of course, it was hard to not notice another voice in their heads, he had also been skeptical on whether or not they should turn her into the Vanguard, but somehow, she had managed to convince them she didn't want to take over their brains.

It also helped that she was about to be incinerated by a Golden gun, but they had gotten past that.

He shook his head, confirming that yes, his leg hadn't been totaled, before he had Stitch summon his Fatebringer from storage, he checked it over, confirming that no additional scratches had been dealt to it in his brief skirmish, and after confirming that it was in working condition, he moved on to his other weapons.

His Dregs promise was also working fine, with a small amount of dirt here and there, while his Bolt Caster was still as sharp as the day Shaxx and him had made it, the only real cause for concern in his armory was his Bad Juju.

It was also covered in Io's bones, with her permission of course, it gave the sinister rifle a large amount of her consciousness, somehow anyway, even she didn't know how it worked, but it had kept her safe when the Tower was lost.

He shook his head, focusing on the weapon in his hand, and seeing the danger he had almost put himself in.

It was once again becoming unstable, using three exotics at once usually did that to anyone's gear, but somehow Io's bones stopped the process, for the most part anyway, they all had to be connected, and usually that took its toll on the girls' mind.

The solution was to not use them, but the risk of someone gaining knowledge of Io and how she was already deeply included into his and Stich's neural link was too great, so he always kept her bones close, because he wouldn't let her be taken as well.

He shook that off, before focusing on the entire reason he was out here, his goal, and his prize.

He placed down a small holo square, switching it on with a flick of a switch, and producing a large blue hologram. A large Vex spire stretched for miles into the sky, it was certainly impressive, but what he came for was under the cloud filled sky, and even under the broken and cracked ground of Nessus, it was another Vex Vault, similar to the Vault of Glass, but, if his intel was accurate, even grander in its prize.

Vex weapons were hard to come by, and even harder to keep in working order, but when they did, they were some of the best guns in the galaxy, and he was after as many of such guns as he could.

He wasn't just in it for loot either, if he could get his hands on those guns, they could possibly be analyzed by Stich and others, maybe give them an edge against the Red Legion.

He set his sights on his visor, bringing up his inventory space to see if all his other weapons were present, before he strapped a lose knife back into his boot, then he set his sights on his newly destroyed bed roll, which the Vex had absolutely totaled with their laser beams and other such nonsense.

He sighed, sending Stich a thought to collect it for repairs, before he brought out his Queenbreakers bow from storage.

He walked calmly outside the temple, eyes peeled towards his radar and surrounding in case the Vex decided to pull another fast one upon him, and get utterly destroyed in the process, because he honestly wasn't in the mood to be fighting Vex all day, he was too old for that shit.

Once he had cleared the dark and dreary temple, he calmly walked over towards a large out cropping of rocks, he settled down, and set his sights upon his objective.

There were Guardians close by, about two miles out if his scope was to be believed, and judging by the Light they were leaving behind, they were participating in a Strike. He snorted, laughing at Zavala and his "Strike protocols" and moved his sights over towards his objective, which the Guardians were currently moving towards.

He blinked, before confirming that they were definitely moving towards the Vault, something that could absolutely NOT happen, especially since they were all heavily under equipped for the dangers they would face inside the Vault that reportedly held more death traps then the Vault of Glass.

He sighed, before he called Stitch over.

"Stitch! Get me my Sparrow, these fools are gonna get themselves killed…" he murmured, voice signaling that he wasn't going to enjoy this, it wasn't his job to handle all the Vanguard jockeys who thought they were special because they had Light.

He wasn't on hostile terms with the Vanguard, but after he had disobeyed orders, and went directly into the Cabal controlled Last City to get Io back, he was essentially an outcast, much like the Sunbreaker order of Titans, except he was alone, with two voices in his head, joy.

Of course Zavala didn't take to well to him leaving his post of helping other Guardians protect the members of the Last City to go get his 'gear back' so he was given an ultimatum, stay at the Camp and surrender his bones, or leave the Vanguard entirely.

He didn't regret his choice.

"Stitch, where is my Sparrow!?" except when Dinklebot kept stalling about giving him his gear.

"Will you cool down for a second?" His Ghost questioned, voice carrying the same amount of irritation towards the Guardians below him, because he wanted the guns just as much as his Hunter. "Do you know how hard it is to move a hundred something pound hover bike out of storage? If you want to carry it around all day, be my guest." He finished, leaving before his Hunter could finish giving him the middle finger.

He grumbled, having Stitch put the Queenbreakers bow into storage before he moved towards his newly formed Sparrow, the Gjallarwing, and sat upon its seat.

He checked the statistics in his Hud, trying to confirm that all his gear was secure, he didn't want his Zealot Helmet to fall off again because he left it unlatched, and once he confirmed that all his gear and bones were in place, he consulted Io on her condition.

"You alright in there Io? Feeling ready to go smack some Kinderguardians?" he asked, hoping that she would actually respond to his insult towards the young ones across the way.

He was disappointed when she didn't take his bait, and said some words about sharing. "Maybe we could give them some of the guns when we clear the Vault? They look like they need it…" she finished, voice cutting down to a small whisper, her ghostly voice causing Stitch and himself to pause for a moment.

They both gave looks, one helmeted head pointed towards a floating golf ball, before they both gave a resounding. "Naw!" and speed off towards their objective, hoping to catch the foolish Guardians before they got swallowed by the Darkness, all the while ignoring the girlish voice screaming in the back of their head about going 'too fast'.

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Honestly, flying across the landscape in a Sparrow was a great feeling, almost as good as channeling his Light, but then again, nothing could match that feeling, so it was a moot point, maybe getting a perfect headshot in the Crucible? He didn't really have much time to ponder that, because he was coming up towards the Vault, and the Guardians who thought they could handle it.

He slowed himself, attempting to calm the screaming Ahamkara in his head, and he sent the signal for Stitch to bring the Sparrow back into his inventory.

He jumped, catching serious air because of the momentum the Sparrow provided, and with a small flair of his powers, blinked safety towards the group of Guardians who had raised weapons at him. He snorted, watching them with a critical eye, noticing several pieces of gear that were offering very low protection status, meaning that his observation about them being young was correct.

They all stared at him, trying to figure out just what he was doing, but some had definitely caught sight of his leg, which irritated him to no end, because they just kept staring at it.

He sighed, hoping to quickly get this over with before they bit off more than they could chew.

"Planning on going into the Vault?" he asked, trying to keep a jovial and amused voice, hiding the irritation he was having expertly. "I don't know if Zavala told you guys yet, but that place is off limits, it's an extreme challenge for even veteran Guardians, now, im not a mean person, so how about we just turn around and leave before something big comes out to crush us like a bug, and I won't tell the Vanguard, alright?" He finished, doing a flourish of his arms toward the looming structure behind him, hoping they would take the bait.

It didn't seem to work well, the only one who seemed upset with him was the Titan, and that was a bad combination, for them that is.

"I know who you are, you're that Outcast Hunter, left a bunch of people to die just for some gear, I don't think you have the right to give us orders!" he finished, voice masculine and old, sounding as though his body was in its forties, maybe older, but all that mattered was the void flickering in his hands, signaling he was either going for a bubble, or an Aegis.

Either one was unacceptable.

"If you know me, then you understand just how bad it would be for you to challenge me, I don't want a fight kid, but if you try to go in that Vault, I'm gonna have to start one." He threatened, voice going cold, and arms starting to shine with the power of the void, while Fatebringer appeared in his hand.

The Titan didn't look impressed, while his buddies, a Warlock and a Hunter, looked hesitant, most likely having heard about just how strong his Light was, all he hoped for was that they would talk some sense into their hot headed friend, maybe even keep him from wiping his Titan face into Vex dirt.

The Warlock spoke next, voice carrying a grace that only Awoken females could possess, trying to calm her friend. "18, you know him, we won't be able to win, let's take his advice, if he is hesitant to go in there, maybe we should be too."

" _Hesitant? Im not hesitant_." He thought, projecting his voice to Stitch and Io, making their conversation mute to outside ears.

" _She has a point you know."_ Stitch thought back, not appearing over his shoulder in case the Titan didn't heed his friend's advice. " _We have no idea what could be in there, we won't be able to fight off another Atheon."_ He finished.

Io also decided now was the time to speak up, only this time in defense of the Guardian she inhabited. _"_ _But the Vanguard needs those weapons, even if we aren't with them, we can still help…"_ She spoke, once again showing her shy nature by quieting down once the Titan looked at her Guardian.

The Titan sat there for a moment, before he turned around, and walked away, his Hunter and Warlock friends only shooting the elder Hunter a look underneath their helmets, before they all left.

He sighed, thankful that he didn't need to put off getting into the Vault any longer, and that he didn't have to fight, he wasn't really interested in fighting someone who could keep reviving themselves.

The fact that he was outnumbered was also a thing

He turned, having Stitch scan the front of the Vault for any signs of an entrance, and any signs of the keyhole they would need to open said door. With a mental command, Stitch begrudgingly pulled out a strange Key, made of the same material that all Vex were created with, and sporting a strange energy that held a similar quality to Atheon's, it was their key into the Vault, hopefully.

He hadn't actually tried it, but it was a way to enter the Vault without summoning a Gate, which would be near impossible to do in this place, because all the summoner pads had been destroyed by Cabal bombardment, yet the door to riches and wonders was untouched, except for small scorch marks from the aforementioned Cabal.

He felt the Key in his hand tingle, signaling some sort of reaction, and he held it up, noticing that the same time distortion effect the Vex made was also happening to the key, only nothing was moving, which was strange.

"Guardian, picking up a whole lot of activity on the radar, whatever it is, its deciding to stay back for now, but we need to hurry." Stitch spoke, alerting the Hunter that he had a timeline, and it might close at any time.

He hurried towards the triangle like door, distinctively different from the Vault on Venus, and held up the Key which had intensified its shaking, almost making his hand numb from the intensity of it, but he held on, until suddenly the Key went flying towards the door, the whole building seeming to shake in reaction to the tiny key he had held in his hand, the shaking got so bad that he had almost lost his balance, until everything stopped, the shaking, the Key's light, even the air seemed to stop moving.

The silence was broken by Stitch appearing over his shoulder, voice tiny and whisper like.

"Is that it?"

And just as suddenly as the Key started shaking, it exploded into a bright light, blinding the Guardian for a brief moment with its intensity, and causing him to twist his body and raise his Fatebringer in case any enemies decided to take advantage of his moment of weakness.

When the light cleared, he could see no Vex near him, the only sound that of the wind, which had just begun to come back from whatever stasis field the Vault had locked them into.

He turned again, seeing the Vault door beginning to open, darkness waiting for him on the other side, and a metallic floor that didn't match up with any of his recording in the Vault of Glass, it was different, not bronze, but a shade of silver, and everything appeared to be coated in the strange colored metal, making the Vault look like it was created by something that wasn't the Vex.

He stepped cautiously into the dark room, eyes on guard for any Vex that could be hiding, and any secrets that could be unveiled from this place.

"Stitch, check the room, see if anything's up." He spoke softly, trying to keep his voice low and level, because he was still unsure about the new design he was seeing.

He took a closer look, finding that the color seemed to match well with the Vex Precursors they had found inside the Vault of Glass, which meant that this temple could also be heavily influenced by the Vex and their time powers.

He took a step back, now seriously examining the place he had walked in, scanning every inch of the silver plated room, trying to find any clue as to the secrets the place could hold. If he were to be honest with himself, the thought of the Vex sending his precious self scattering through time, or even worse, being erased from history terrified him to no end, because as soon as he stepped foot in this place, he gave control over time itself over to the Vex, and he barely made it out alive last time he did it.

Only the power of Light gave him the ability to defy Atheon and his displacement ability, and even then, he only barely managed to wrestle his Fate from the god like Vex.

He shook his head once more, aware of the concerned 'look' Io was giving him, and set his sights on another door opposite to him, open and unassuming. If anything the Vex made could be called such.

"Stitch, give me some intel here, what kind of control do they have over time?" he asked, eyes never leaving the door across the way, even when his Ghost materialized next to him.

"Looks like pretty basic stuff for their Vaults, we might have some trouble getting a signal out, or, we might find another Guardian down here." He finished, robotic eye dancing around at anything that seemed to move in the Darkness.

The Hunter nodded, before he got up from his position examining the strange silver plating, and went over towards the door that would most likely be a trap.

"Alright then, lets go Vex hunting." He accentuated this statement by summoning his Fatebringer from his inventory, and walked straight into the door, ignoring all protest, and ignoring the feeling of once again walking into the jaws of the Darkness.

He was a Guardian, and he made his own Fate.

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Fate sucked.

He had been saying that a lot, but when you spent what could have either been days or centuries searching through a Vault that was literally meant to screw with dimensional forces that shouldn't be screwed with, he had a right to vent a little.

"I mean really, who the hell would build robots that can travel through time in the first place? Any movie ever will say that's a really really bad idea." He complained, ignoring what was possibly the seventh time he had passed by the same Vex etching in the wall.

Stitch floated next to him, apparently playing a game of poker with a subroutine he had constructed a few days ago, or was it centuries? It was hard to tell when you're in a Vault, all he knew was that his Ghost had been very silent, only stopping to scan something neither the Guardian or the Ahamkara had seen before, which was very little.

He sighed, before addressing the child mind of his Ahamkara companion. "What do you think Io, feel anything in that ol noggin of yours?" He asked, trying to see if the extra ordinary senses of the Ahamkara could pierce the fog that Vaults placed upon his their Light, because she was cool like that.

Alas, his hopes of using Io as a boney loot detector turned false when she replied with a negative.

"I can't see anything… it's like the Void is being completely blocked from me, I don't like it…" She whispered, mind's eye looking towards anything that could cause them some form of harm, but if her Hunter was correct, nothing had been in here for at least a few hundred thousand years, which didn't really mean much when the Vex were concerned, but he seemed pretty confident.

The Hunter sighed, realizing that not only had he been passing by the same wall etching a lot, but he had probably asked that question five times as well, the Vex were really screwing with time if he could remember himself asking that same question five other times, one of them he was even a girl, which was amusing.

He set his feet down upon semi stable looking Vex metal, placing his pack down for what felt like the eighth time in the past few minutes, before he started cleaning his weapons, for the fifteenth time.

Fate REALLY sucked.

He could control his own, but the Vex always found little tiny ways to screw with it, such as somehow making him go back to a point where he had already walked, for the nineteenth Traveler damned time.

"Stitch, can you do something about these damn time screwy things?" he asked, irritation bubbling to the surface, because his ghost had probably also been affected by the Vex time screwy stuff, and he didn't really want to hear about how he lost at checkers to a dumb computer.

"Unless you can get me into the Vex hive mind, were going to have to deal with the jumps, or, you could stop walking into the same room that sends us back." He finished, thankfully done with his silent brooding, or checkers, as it was called by boring people.

"It's literally the only room here! Unless you want to space magic up a damn door, that's the only one we can go to!" he shouted, not in hostility towards Stitch, but towards the Vex Vault that was deciding to be a pain in his immortal ass.

As if reacting to his shouting, the whole Vault shook, dust particles coming free from their long wait, raining down upon the Guardian and the guns he had just cleaned, again.

All that was forgotten when all of the Vaults occupants found that a door had opened near them, opening up into a large looking room, filled with small lights, shiny doors, and thousands of Vex platforms.

Stitch instantly transmatted to a safer location, while also sending his Hunter Super Good Advice, which he loaded with ammo with nothing but a nod, he would certainly need it, the only time he had fought this many opponent was when he was in the Black Garden, and even then, none of them were Precursors, like right now.

He set his sights upon the nearest Vex Goblin, waiting for any move to indicate activation, any sign that he was going to have to fight of thousands of Vex, it was tense, all three minds waiting for the dreaded moment that they would activate, but strangely, nothing happened.

 _"_ _Stich, why the hell aren't we dead right now?"_ He said across their link, hoping that the Vex couldn't somehow detect his nervous thoughts.

It took him a moment to respond, most likely because he was scanning, silently of course, for any sign as to why the Vex were taking a nap. " _I don't know… something in here must be interfering with the hive mind, which is bad for us, because whatever can stop the Vex from communicating is definitely a threat."_ He finished.

The Hunter slowly lowered his gun, and set his sights upon the end of the room, where a massive door sat built into the end of the rows of Vex, the only door that was currently open.

"This is such a damn trap it's not even funny…"

Stitch and Io both agreed heavily, thinking the same thoughts as their Guardian, whatever was at the end of this room, was probably a bad thing, but they couldn't turn back, while fighting something that could overwhelm the Vex was a bad idea, it was better than being lost in time, forced to wander forever.

His first step was hesitant, eyes still wandering towards the deactivated Vex, searching for any sign of movement, and keeping his Super Good Advice ready for any hostile threats, but even when he was ten steps in, nothing moved, all sound seemed to have been taken, even the distinct clank of his robotic leg upon the floor was muted, as though something didn't want him to be heard.

He didn't know how much time had passed between him walking in the room, to him finally making it to the door, but when the door he had made it to closed with a small thud, he was glad to be rid of the thousands of Vex staring at him with their empty eyes.

Of course he wasn't expecting a holographic woman to greet him.

Everything stopped, no one, not even Io made a peep, all of them shocked into a large silence because of the ghostly looking woman that had appeared before them.

She was beautiful, even with the blue hologram distorting the image, you could see her golden hair and piercing blue eyes, staring at the Guardian before her with what looked like curiosity, and something akin to amusement.

The atmosphere was tense, the Hunter not knowing whether he should drop to a knee, or point his weapon at her, but his decision was made for him when he suddenly found his Super Good Advice being forcefully transmatted into the girl's hands.

Stitch made a sound of shock, most likely just as confused as to how the girl had gotten access to their transmatt codes, and how he didn't notice it.

He was immediately silenced when the girl spoke her first angelic words.

"You are different from the others…" she spoke, causing an involuntary shiver to come over all three of the minds across from her. "the others were, weak, unpowerful, they could not handle the Vex and their mind games, but you… something about you is different, stronger, you are just what I need." She finished, sending the Super Good Advice floating over towards the dumbstruck Guardian, who was trying hard to understand how others had gotten into the clearly locked Vault before him.

She gestured for him to follow, and after converging with the others in his head, they all agreed that this was most likely going to end badly, so they went with her, mindful of the plain hallways that were still the same shade of silver, with the occasional light here or there.

She was floating, her appearance still taking on a blue holographic look, yet somehow having her appear somewhat solid, it was confusing, especially since Stitch and his scans indicated she shouldn't even be physically possible.

She giggled, before looking over her shoulder to the Guardian and his floating Ghost.

"Nothing is impossible in the realm of the Vex, Little Light, always remember that when you come into strange places like this."

Both of them were shocked once again, converging and deciding that yes, she was in fact reading their link, which shouldn't have been possible.

"I swear, they never listen when I say nothing is impossible, but then again, you Guardians have always been rather simple minded, comes with the reality I suppose." She spoke, voice carrying a warmth that gave the impression of warm blankets and summer.

The way she had said that, it was almost like…

"You're not from this reality?" he questioned, watching the girl stop with caution.

"Ahh, so you can catch my hints, that is good, strength is not the only deciding factor for my Chosen, I'm glad you have figured it out so fast, the others were to dim witted to understand me." She explained, not seeming to notice the fact that the entire building was shifting, silver metal turning into a type of liquid form, shifting all over the area, except for where he was standing.

"What is this place? I haven't ever seen anything the Vex have made that looks like this…" he asked, looking in awe at the technological power that must have gone into building the silver liquid/metal.

She giggled once again, floating towards a door that had only just began to solidify out of the moving liquid.

"I would hope not, only those who have been Chosen are allowed to see this place, of course, you only passed the first two stages, so it's yet to be decided on whether or not you will remember this place." She finished, walking towards a large Vex Gate, which was shimmering with a blue glow, with the usual Vex portal distortion effect, except for the liquid look that it had, it was generally like a normal Gate.

He was… honestly stumped, she was implying many things, yet saying nothing, and if he was currect, she was putting him through tests, possibly the door and the time jumps, maybe even with his intelligence, he couldn't be sure, what he was sure of though, was that the door they walked in through was gone, and the Gate was slowly glowing brighter, meaning something was happening, and it probably wouldn't be good.

"Hmm, so you risked your already weak life to safe your third companion? Very brave of you, sneaking back into the Tower without your Light…" She spoke, causing Io, Stitch, and himself to tense up, looking towards the women who was sitting, while floating, next to a monitor that was playing out his rescue mission for Io.

"H-how are you doing this." He asked, voice shaking a small amount, because his mental defenses were supposed to block out influences like this, yet she was looking straight into his head, where even Orxy had trouble forcing his way through.

"Hmm, from your memories, I can gather that you are certainly worthy of being Chosen, you have slain what could be considered gods for your people, that is certainly impressive, but as I said, strength does not determine your readiness for being Chosen…" she spoke, drifting very close towards the man who was trying his best to not reach for a sidearm.

Suddenly, his helmet was gone, leaving his black hair open to the world, and his gray eyes to stare back into the blue of the girl before him.

"Loyalty is not just a word to you, it's a way of life, fighting till the bitter end is not how you want to die out, you wish to leave protecting your friends, and… you have a tenacity that even others of your kind cannot hope to match, being able to fight off Atheon and his imprinted Fate certainly proves such."

She hummed, before moving over to the still glowing portal, which had gotten even brighter in the brief time they had been speaking.

"I believe that because of these traits, you are worthy of being Chosen, what I am going to bestow upon you is a great honor, and an even greater burden, Guardian. I hope you can live up to your legend."

Suddenly, he dropped to the floor, body on fire with a power he had never felt before, aware of the voices in his head screaming in worry, but in so much pain that he could not hope to respond, his eyes were becoming blurry, his helmet the only thing that could block out the intense light bearing down upon his eyes from the portal, which had suddenly gotten a lot closer, and if he wasn't mistaken, he could feel the strange liquid time particles closing in around his body, and hear someone shouting his name, almost in a panic from the sound of it.

 _"_ _Aiden, you need to snap out of it! Your Light is going critical! You need to use a super! Hurry!"_

He blinked, recognizing the worry coming from his friend's voice, Io was worried, and for some reason, she wanted him to use a super, something about his Light going critical?

He couldn't think, so he only did, hoping that the power of the Void would flood out all the pain that the holographic girl had caused him, and hoping that he could slow the progress of whatever was dragging him into the Gate, because he wasn't ready to go yet, he needed to protect Stitch, protect Io.

He released all of his Light into a spectacular show of Void, flooding the room with a purple glow, and releasing a small amount of the pain that had been building up within his system, but not nearly enough to stop his head from spinning.

He struggled as much as he could, pouring all of the Light he could into any super that he could think of, Bladedancer, Arcstrider, Gunslinger, anything to relieve the feeling of having his body burnt from the power that was inside his chest.

But it wasn't enough, he was losing consciousness, Io and Stitch's voice the only thing keeping his near shattered mind awake, the only thing he could see was the girl, sitting back, face blank, but eyes carrying a deep sadness, whether or not it was because of the pain she had caused, or because he was about to die, he could not tell, but the last thing he heard before the darkness washed over him was Stitch and Io shouting at him in fear, and then he knew no more.

 **Wooooo! Authors notes!**

 **Wow, if I'm honest, that way ten thousand times better than my first story start, which involved terrible grammar, an undescribed city, and a bad number of typos, but I think I did pretty good with this one, and I certainly hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **Anyway, this is my Destiny fic, with the release of the Beta, I decided to make it. Now I know a lot of people will get on me for making a fic about a game that hasn't even released yet, but I'm going to be focusing on new and old mechanics, while Destiny 2 is the game we are in, it will include Destiny 1 stuff, such as some guns and abilities that you don't have in the second game, if this upsets you, then I'm sorry, but that's how it is.**

 **Anyway, as for A Predators Quirk, I'm kinda running into some writer's block on it, I don't know where to go at the current moment, but I have a large idea of what's going to happen in the story, I just can't seem to put it into words, Of course this doesn't mean I'm giving up on the story, it just means I'm trying to clear my head so I can come back and write it with my full attention, sorry if this upsets some of you.**

 **As always, have a good day ladies and gents, and try some bananas!**

 **(PS) Darkness and Light will be capitalized if I'm talking about more then a scenes lighting.**


	2. Thar Be Dragons!

**Authors hint: When things are in italics** _Like this._ _ **That means that someone is speaking telepathically, so don't freak out if you're wondering why someone can't hear words being spoken.**_

He was alone, no voices in his head, no Ghost floating over his shoulder, just Darkness, pure and suffocating, filling his body and soul with fear and pain, leaving nothing left but what it wanted, what the Darkness demanded of him.

He trembled, Light wavering, unable to resist the overwhelming power being forced upon him.

His Light had fought off any foe, helping him slay robots and gods alike, but here, in the realm of the Darkness, he was nothing, an insignificant bug that it was attempting to toy with, and any resistance was met with brutal and merciless force, the likes of which not even Oryx could summon. He had felt this before, his first death, a distant nightmare, now coming back.

He felt a small nudge, not from the Darkness, but from inside himself, the small spark of Light that he was protecting from the storm outside was reacting to something, glowing even inside the suffocating Darkness, and illuminating the bones laid upon his armor.

He heard… voices, familiar and comforting, coming from outside the maelstrom of evil, calling him, begging him to come back, to not lose himself.

He was confused, how could he hear voices? In the Darkness, there was only it, his Light, and himself, he remembered that more than anything else, the suffocating loneliness, so whose voice was calling to him?

He felt his Light nudge him again, seeming to glow even more bright in reaction to the voices, it was pulling him, slowly but surely through the never ending Darkness, towards voices that carried worry, they were clearing up, slowly, memories of a Ghost and a voice filled with wonder at seeing, at seeing…

He couldn't remember, the Darkness was fighting back, trying its hardest to keep him back from the voices, ripping into his body and tethering him, slowly breaking the hold his Light had over him.

But… the voices, they were still calling, growing more urgent than ever, urging him to resist, to fight the Darkness with the Light the Traveler gave him.

Traveler… that was what the voice was amazed about, Io had just seen the Traveler for the firs-.

His Light, which had only been a small ember, now burst into a raging inferno, destroying the tethers that held him in the darkness, flooding his mind with memories, of Stitch and their first meeting, of Io and her child like wonder when she saw the Traveler, and of all that they had been through.

How could he have forgotten? How could he have forgotten all that they had done, all the people he had saved by destroying Crota, Atheon, Oryx, Siva, and so many more?

He looked towards the shining Light in his palm, closing his hand around all that he was, his very being, and set his sights upon the voices that waited for him, he swam through the Darkness, destroying anything that dared try to impede his progress towards his friends, he would not let the Darkness have him for a second time.

He lifted his hand towards the outside.

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His eyes opened, taking in the outside world, away from the Darkness he had been stuck in, finally free of the fear and pain.

The sky was dark and cloudy, showing his bare head with cold water that did well to cool his burning body, and reassuring him that the damn Vex lady hadn't portaled him into the depths of space.

 _"_ _Aiden… are you alright?"_

He blinked, sitting up very carefully to ensure he hadn't lost anything vital on his way out, of course, judging by the mended Vex leg that had previously sported a pulse burn, and his Iron Saga Cloak being in pristine condition, meaning Stitch had already revived him, probably because his body got destroyed from overusing his supers.

He looked towards the floating Ghost, watching his shell move about in erratic ways, indicating he was not to excited about whatever he had just went through, while also reassuring the tired Hunter that he had went through the portal without being affected by the same pain he had.

His Ghost could be a sarcastic dick, but even he shouldn't have gone through that kind of pain.

He checked his surrounding next, noticing the large clearing he was in, and the giant leafy tree things, he was either on Earth or Venus, because Nessus didn't have this much overgrowth last he checked.

Although, it was strange, Io had spoken to him, yet it sounded… detached, as though she wasn't with him, which was impossible, because he had her bones on his armor, and Bad Juju was safely in his inventory, so why did it sound like that?

"Stitch, what happened to Io, why does her voice sound… weird?" he asked, eyes keenly aware of something sneaking closer on his radar, and his hand slowly twitching towards his Fatebringer, which rested on his thigh.

"Well, you see, something happened while you were away, and uh…"

It was getting closer, and Stitch didn't even seem to notice it, which was weird because he was basically a super computer, so why wasn't he noticing the very obvious red splotch on the radar he was connected to?

When the unknown got within ten feet of the pair, the Guardian sprung in to action.

He blinked, appearing just over the bushes that his target was hiding in, and he landed with a small roll, pulling out his hand cannon, and setting his sights upon the strange winged creature that had almost ambushed him, and with a small flick of his finger, prepared to pull the trigge-.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, he found all of his weapons, including his secret knifes, transmatted over towards the spot he had landed, Stitch stupidly putting his very delicate frame between him and the winged beast, who was strangely cowering in fear instead of trying to bite them.

"Stitch! Move your ass, you don't know what that thing could do to you!" he shouted, urgently looking back and forth from the cowering creature, and his absolutely livid Ghost, who was mad at him for some reason or another.

"You idiot! Do you always have to shoot first!? Do you even realize what you almost did!?" Stitch shouted back, anger clear in the way his frame kept moving around.

"Why the hell are we arguing when there's a friggin dragon looking sucker trying to ambush us?!" The Hunter complained, eyes never leaving the beast that was no longer cowering, but looking at him with what could almost be mistaken for a small amount of hurt.

Stitch did not seem like his last comment, and decided to transmatt a very heavy rock over his head as a way of insult. While his Hunter was clutching his head in pain, he floated over to the somewhat scared creature, before shoving it towards the downed Guardian.

Aiden only watched his Ghost try to move the creature towards him, using the hand not clutching his head to flip the golf ball off.

Once Stitch had seemed to deem the thing close enough, he zoomed over and got real close into his Guardians face, lowering his optic in a way that made it seem like he was scolding him, while Io was strangely quiet through this whole confrontation.

"Aiden, before you try to kill her again." Her? "Why don't you say hello to Io." He spoke, moving out of the way so his Guardian could get a look at the tiny creature he almost killed.

He only sat there, gray eyes holding a look of pure confusion, before he slowly sat down, careful to not get to close in case his Ghost had blown a fuse, and looked right into the violet eyes of the tiny dragon creature.

When he spoke, his voice was small, hesitant, as though he couldn't believe what he was about to do, yet he did it anyway.

"Io…?" he spoke, waiting to hear the reply that would determine the tiny beasts fate.

He only had to wait a few seconds before he heard a reply, coming from the general area that the creature sat in. _"Uh… it's me…"_

He sat in stunned silence, only barely aware of Stitch's snarky comment, and how he was saying something along the lines of 'I told you so'.

He took the small Ahamkara in, looking at all the details he could, staring at the tiny sparkling scales of amethyst, with her wings carrying a lighter shade of purple, the membranes had small amounts of light shine through them because of the thinness, while her underbelly was a shade of gray going along the length of her tiny tail, which ended with small spikes, fitting in well with her purple body.

She was… well, she was alive, the Vex lady had done something to her, causing the mind of Io to be put inside a body that looked almost exactly like the mythical Ahamkara, maybe it even was a genuine Ahamkara, he couldn't tell.

He felt a broad grin appear upon his face, before he lunged in and grabbed the young Ahamkara in a fierce grip, leaping into the air and throwing the poor girl upwards, all the while screaming about how the Vex lady was awesome, with his passenger screaming because of the sudden feeling of being thrown into the sky.

Stitch only watched on in bemusement, aware of just how bad his Guardian needed a tiny person play with, while he deeply cared for him, getting thrown around all the time was getting old.

"Stitch! This is amazing! What the hell did Vex lady do to her?" The overjoyed Guardian shouted, happy that the Ahamkara he was throwing was finally starting to enjoy her experience as a Guardians new play toy.

"I don't know, she might have taken the bones and reversed their time, somehow bringing her body back, while keeping her mind intact, but I can't be sure, whatever she did, its lightyears ahead of what normal Vex are capable of." He finished, loading all of his Guardians gear back in now that he wasn't trying to kill the young Ahamkara.

"But how is it possible that she reversed time for something she didn't have influence over, I thought that was something they could only do when they were there?" he asked, setting down the happy girl with a small pat on the head.

"It shouldn't, everything about the Vex says it's impossible, my theory is, she may not be Vex at all, or if she is, she is something no one has ever seen before." He theorized, now entirely focused on making sure Io was perfectly healthy, he didn't want his Guardian to do something that hurt the poor girl.

 _"_ _Ow!"_

Like throw her into a tree.

While his Guardian sheepishly carried the young Ahamkara out of the tree, Stitch set about scanning the environment they were in, to try and find out which planet they had been transported to.

His outer frame split into multiple triangular pieces, a small aura of light gathering around him while he attempted to match wherever they were with where they had been. Scanning everything he could about the place they had found themselves in, and finding something that didn't quite match up with what it should be.

The place they were in was… different.

The atmosphere itself was his biggest clue, saturated with an unknown energy that he had never seen before, and the air, while very similar to Earth, was less polluted, so much so that the only thing wrong with the place was the fact that the radiation from the sun was getting in here more than it should.

That data alone was more than enough to convince him that they were somewhere different, but what really drove the point home was the complete lack of any signal, radio or otherwise, wherever they were, he couldn't connect to the network the Vanguard had all across the system.

They were outside of Sol.

Stitch only had one moment to sigh, before he saw his Guardian doing an intense ritual of tickling upon Io, completely ruining the air of stoicism he always held up, even if just to torture the screeching dragon underneath him.

While he hated to ruin the only fun his Guardian had indulged himself in for months, he had to be the Ghost of bad news.

"Aiden, we have a problem." He said suddenly, taking all of the attention his Guardian was giving the young Ahamkara and giving it to himself, gifting the girl with a break for now.

"What's up Stitch? Someone steal my candy?" He asked, voice deathly serious for what he had just said, but the hand creeping up on breathless Ahamkara indicating he was far from being such.

"Well, aside from being ship less on an unknown planet, were outside of the Sol system, and far enough away that contact with the Vanguard is impossible." The floating Ghost spoke, twitching one of his outer shells pieces when his Guardian suddenly tensed up, and dropped the hand that was about to surprise the now equally silent Ahamkara.

"Well… guess that means we get more time with Io huh?" He spoke, trying to put in a little humor to their slightly bad situation.

It was only several moments after the Guardian had made his comment when the tiny voice of Io joined in. _"Well, is it really bad that were away from the Vanguard?"_ Io spoke, words surprising both Ghost and Guardian with their suddenness, and the firmness that they were said in.

"Io, what do you mean?" The Hunter spoke, confused as to what she was implying when she said being marooned wasn't too bad.

She was silent for a moment, before she continued on, trying her hardest to speak in a confident voice.

" _Well, you've been fighting for so long… is it really that bad to get away from all of it?"_ She hesitantly asked, purple eyes looking towards anything but the Ghost and Guardian standing next to her.

"Io… the people need me, even if I'm not with the Vanguard, I'm still a Guardian, it's my duty to protect people, I can't just run away from that…" He said, setting himself on one knee to get level with his friend, trying to get her to look at him.

She was silent for a long while, almost to the point that both males were beginning to become concerned, but when she did speak, they found themselves speechless because of the volume she was using, and the look in her eyes, shutting both of them up

 _"_ _You've done your duty! How many times have you saved the Last City and humanity from extinction? If anything, you deserve a chance to stop more than anyone else in the stupid Vanguard!_ " She finished, staring rather intently into the eyes of her surprised Hunter.

She was right of course, out of all the Guardians out there, he had fought off more than those who had centuries of experience under their belts, even when he was barely seven months old he had taken on the Vex god in the Black Garden, an enemy that would have decimated Guardians who had more experience them him.

His Light had carried him through all those battles, burning more bright and intense then any the Vanguard had seen before, never once had he considered taking a break, because all of his second life had been filled with the mantra of 'Guardians never stop'. What Io was suggesting was giving up on almost six years of fighting the Darkness, that wasn't the part that scared him however, he was more afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle the opportunity for peace that had been so suddenly dropped upon his lap.

He was silent for a long while, blocking out both Stitch and Io while he thought on the implications maybe settling down on the planet they found themselves on, while Io sat on her haunches, seeming to have better control over her new body then she should have, after being a bunch of bones for several hundred years.

He sighed, before he sat up suddenly, grabbing the surprised Ahamkara and setting her upon his shoulder, which was quite easy since she was about the size of two hive maggots, he just hoped she didn't smell like one.

"Alright, you've convinced me, until we find a way off this rock, were going on vacation!" he shouted his last words, pointing towards what he deemed to be west, and waving for Stitch to follow, who was looking at him in total bewilderment from his sudden change on leaving the planet they had been transported to.

He only made a robotic sigh, before transmatting himself above his Guardians shoulder, trying to ignore what was about to be a very long and terrible camping trip.

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It was indeed a terrible trip.

Only twelve hours they had been walking, with an adolescent Ahamkara, a humming Hunter, and an annoyed Ghost, taking in any and all sights they could find, and just generally enjoying the peaceful forest they had found themselves in, Io had even spotted a freaking deer!

But, like most things in the universe, gusts of wind reaching speeds of up to fifty MPH decided to screw with the trio of friends, completely ruining Io's time on the Guardians shoulder, and causing Stitch to transmat safety inside the drenched Hunters 'backpack'.

"Cheeky little bastard" He said, using his cloak as a blanket for the shivering Io, who wasn't as resistant to the wind as he was.

"It's not my fault your inventory isn't safe for living creatures, do you know how many Gjallarhorn missiles you have in here? I don't know how we haven't run out of room by now…" His Ghost said, examining just how much junk he had kept stored there over the years.

"Im sorry if I'm tired of big bad bosses like Crota making me run out of Heavy, maybe if you could make me some more rockets, my pack wouldn't be so stuffed!" he shouted, wind nearly drowning his voice out in the plains they had found themselves in, lightning occasionally striking down on the fields, making both Hunter and Ahamkara wary of being hit them.

"Why the hell is it so windy here!? This is some crazy crap right here!" He shouted, hoping whatever was out there would stop screwing with him and start giving him good fortune already, maybe a nice beach with gun aplenty…

He shook his head, noticing something in the distance that shouldn't have been, and that was somewhat questioning the sanity of his mind.

In the distance, possibly a few hundred feet out, was what looked like a giant sapphire gem, with wings and a long neck, huddling close to some unidentifiable forms, seemingly trying to protect them from the harsh winds, and if he wasn't mistaken, the giant gem thing looked a lot like a bigger Io, except blue and what not.

"Stitch, have I finally lost it? Is this the Cookie Monster here to take me to Valhalla?" He asked, trying to not sound desperate for the Cookie Monster to appear, and make his life just a little bit better with the chocolatey goodness of cookies.

Stitch only rolled his single eye, using his Guardians helmet to zoom in upon the figures in the distance, trying to determine what they were, and why they were currently in this giant windstorm, maybe they were insane, like them?

"No, you're still just as insane as you were before, it looks like we have another Ahamkara on the loose, only this one doesn't appear to be with Guardians, and yes before you question me, that is definitely an Ahamkara, so shut up about it." He finished, not caring about the pouty look his Guardian had given him.

"Welp, guess we should introduce ourselves, Ghost get rid of the helmet, makes me look edgy." He said, walking confidently towards the wind whipped people, trying to hide the bundle in his arms from the harsh winds and destructive lightning that was crashing in the nearby.

Now that he had time to get a good look in, he could also see what looked like two horses hiding behind the dragon, explaining why he couldn't see them, of course, his thoughts were more focused on the fact that anyone was using horses in the first place, hadn't they gone extinct after the Golden age?

No time for thoughts such as that, he was closing in on the giant Ahamkara, and it seemed to have noticed him, if the snarl aimed in his direction was any indication, she wasn't too happy to see him.

 _"_ _How do you know it's a she?"_ Io asked, seeing through her Hunters eyes rather than reveal her position by looking outside the semi dry cloak she was hiding in.

" _Well, she just looks female I guess, although I could be wrong, she looks somewhat like you."_ He said, watching the sapphire eyes of the Ahamkara stare straight into his soul.

He stopped moving forward, getting buffeted by a large gust of wind, and aware of the alertness of the two humans he had stumbled upon, one young one with a mop of brown hair upon his head, and one old one, who held a white beard, silver like hair, and a look that made him seem to be even older then Shaxx, and that was saying something.

Both looked at him, carrying a small bundle in his arms, and standing in the middle of harsh winds like he was taking a walk through a forest, although the old one looked at any spot that could hold hidden weapons, of which he had a lot.

 _"_ _Maybe I should have had you put away my knives Stitch…"_ he thought, hoping the old one wouldn't notice all the knives he had hidden on his person with the wind blowing his armor and clothes around like they were, he certainly didn't want to get in a fight again, he had only just cleaned off his Iron Saga chest plate.

The old guy stared at him for a long while, before he gestured over towards an empty spot beneath the dragon ladies wing, who also gave the old man a look of confusion for his actions, but he didn't bother staring at her, he kept his eyes firmly upon the drenched Guardian, which meant he didn't trust him.

He walked forward slowly, cautious of the man and what he could do, only giving a glance towards the boy who looked to be in his teens, but from what he could see, he was staring rather intently at his robotic leg, not even caring about anything else he was doing.

He sighed, wishing that people would just give it a rest, you would think with Exo's and Awoken walking around, someone with a Vex leg would be forgotten about fairly quickly.

 _"_ _Wait… Stitch, didn't you say this place was disconnected from the Sol system? How the hell are their humans here?"_ He asked, sitting himself down very carefully, so he didn't scare off the man who was looking him over, only acknowledging his metal leg with a small glance, probably trying to find out where his weapons were.

" _I don't know, no planet that are recorded have ever had conditions this similar to Earth, I don't know how humans can be here, and if they are, why aren't we getting any kind of signals from them?"_ He asked, going full on theory mode.

The Hunter heard the unsheathing of a blade far too late for it to be helpful, feeling the edge come very close to his neck, he barley gave a glance towards the ruby like blade, eyes firmly latched upon the old man, who was also giving him a very rude glare.

"Well that's a rude way to greet guests, weren't you taught manners?" He spoke, calm and collected voice giving the old man pause, and causing the giant Ahamkara next to him to rumble in what sounded like laughter.

The man didn't find it so amusing, bringing the edge of the sword closer to his neck, so much so that he could feel the cold razor sharp edge against his skin, and the feeling of Darkness emanating from the thing.

He sighed, before he rested Io on the ground, under the man's intense glare of course, and presented his closed hands towards the surprised man.

"Well? Hurry up and tie me, if I only have to be a captive to get some good wind cover, seems like a pretty good deal to me." He shrugged, moving his hands closer towards the old man, who signaled the boy to get some rope, so far however, this meeting was going splendidly.

"So, who do I have the pleasure of being prisoner to today?" he asked, looking at the shiny scales he was placed next to from the Ahamkara, who was looking at him with her large eyes, intense glare reduced to a curious expression, while the other two sat next to their bags, wind still howling outside of their cover.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" the old one asked, not seeming to care for his calm attitude at all.

"Just a traveler, who happened to see a good bit of shelter." A growl told him the Dragon did not enjoy that. "Sorry, a very shiny bit of shelter, and I wanted to get out of this terrible wind, I didn't know I would be such a problem for you three."

The man raised his brow at the end of his rant, forgoing questioning him, and looking towards the tied up Hunters cloak, which was doing a terrible job of keeping itself from moving around a lot.

"Yea, could you not open that please? Got some rather precious cargo, and I wouldn't want to get it wet." He spoke, hoping he could convince the old man to respect his privacy, and so that he wouldn't discover the hiding Io in there, and attempt to hurt her.

If he did, he would face one angry Guardian.

But alas, he moved towards the bundle, the Hunters voice giving him only a seconds pause, before he unraveled the bundle, and fell back in shock.

Inside was a very nervous Io, trying her best to hid inside the cloak she was given, eyes looking around at the four faces staring at her, one in exasperation, and the other three in shock.

"See I told you not to open it, but no-" This time, he felt the blade slice his skin, causing a small line of blood to travel down his neck, and causing his intense look to travel up the length of the ruby blade, and setting themselves upon the old man who had dared to interrupt his sarcastic comment.

"How do you have a dragon! there are only two dragons left, and none can be that young! Are you from the Empire!?" The old man questioned, eyes wild and voice angry, as though the Hunter at the end of his blade was responsible for some tragedy.

"Uhm, no, I'm a guy who really doesn't like sharp things against his neck, so if you could kindly knock it off, that would be appreciated." He said, a crease in his brows and a tensing of his hands the only indication he was preparing his blink ability.

The old man appreciated this even less but instead of slicing the Guardians neck off, he dropped his sword, muttered some unintelligible words, and suddenly, the Hunter found himself actually constricted.

His eyes opened wide in shock, finding himself unable to move, everything was frozen, and the old man was doing something, removing his glove and checking his hand for something, it was only when he had untied the Hunters hands did he see what he wanted, a strange mark upon his hand, a scar that appeared to be a dragon like figure inside an oval, which confused the Guardian, because he had never seen the mark in his whole life.

 _"_ _Io, get ready to run, Stitch, prep a Rez, if these guys kill me I need to get back in fast."_ The Hunter said, doing his best to fight off whatever influence was holding him, yet also making it look like he wasn't putting his all into it, lest the man figure out he was trying to break free.

 _"_ _Stitch, what the hell is this? Why can't I move?"_ He asked, searching for any part of himself that wasn't being contained by the strange field, hoping his Ghost could somehow get rid of it.

" _I don't know, whatever that man did seemed to have caused the energy in the air to converge on your body, I cant figure out how to get rid of it except for maybe overcharging it with your Light."_ He said, examining everything he could about it while he was confined inside the inventory.

 _"_ _Wouldn't overcharging it just get me locked in even more?"_ He said, noticing with concern that the old man was directing his gaze towards Io, who was in a limbo between growling at her Guardians confinement, and cowering in fear because of the hermit staring at her her.

Only when the old man got up to grab the young Ahamkara did the Guardian spring in to action, channeling the Light through his body towards his arm, hoping that he could somehow overpower the field with a well powered Blink Strike, and if that didn't work, he would have to use his super.

The Guardian used the Arc within him to lurch forward at great speeds, breaking the man's control over him, and allowing him to bring his newly revealed knife up to his throat.

All was silent, even the large dragon creature looked towards him with shock, the boy bringing out the ruby blade that had caused the Guardian to bleed, looking towards the old man and angry immortal in shock.

"You can tie me up, you can touch my stuff, hell, you can even put that damn field around me again, but you don't ever, EVER, touch her. You understand old man?" The Hunter questioned, eyes shining with Arc energy, illuminating just how angry he was at the man for daring to touch Io.

The old man looked surprised for a moment, before he nodded, and looked towards the boy and dragon who looked about ready to stab the stranger in the back.

"You have a dragon young man, there should only be two left, I am merely curious as to how you came across her egg." The old man said, not shying away from the dangerous Guardian currently holding a blade to his throat.

The Hunter gave him one last look, before he returned the knife into his sleeve, and walked over towards the quivering Io, and held her in a comforting grip, once again covering her with his cloak, hopefully to warm her up before she got hypothermia.

"I just found it, don't know where it came from, or how it got there, but I did, and she hatched, I'm not with any Empire, and I certainly don't want to pick a fight with you, so don't try to touch her again." He lied, the only truth in his sentence being about the empire, and the not touching her part.

The old man sighed, before he sat down, sheathing the red blade and handing it off to the brown haired boy once again, and letting silence run free, except for the howling of wind and the crack of thunder

 _"_ _Are you going to fight them?"_ Io asked, looking through the small gap in his cloak at her Hunter, who was currently closing his eyes, trying to relax from the tense moment he had just had.

So unfocused was he, that instead of speaking directly to her through his mind, he spoke with his mouth, just like he used to when he didn't have company.

"No, were not going to fight Io." He said, eyes still closed and not bothering to look at the three pairs of eyes staring at him in slight confusion.

" _Are you sure? They d-didn't look very nice_

"We'll be fine Io, don't worry about it."

 _"_ _Are you really sure?"_

"Yes, now go to bed, you've been up to long anyway." He finished, opening his eyes once again to see all of the people currently with him staring at him, some curious, some in bewilderment, and some in a caring way, he understood the last one the least.

"You can talk to her?" The old man and young boy asked at once, looking at the Hunter and his cuddled up dragon in a small amount of awe.

The Hunter nodded, confused as to why that was the part hanging them up, because he was not seeing why talking to her was a big deal.

"Yea, can't you guys? I figured that's what the kid over there was doing when he reached for big dragon's mind." He finished, watching all of the faces show shock, whether or not they did that for his name calling, or the fact that he could see their mental communication was unclear.

"That should not be possible, your dragon is far too young for you to have such excellent mental power, you would have had to spent years practicing, and you are also too young to have mastered it this quickly." The old man said, once again staring at him in mistrust, as though he was making up his story.

The Hunter snorted, petting the Ahamkara in his grasp on the head, eliciting purrs from her, her rumbling causing him some small amount of comfort, and thought on what the man had said.

Having mental control was something every Guardian was forced to practice, if the Hive, Vex, or Traveler forbid the Darkness were to get inside a Guardians head, and take control? The results were to apocalyptic to think on, that was why all Guardians were forced through vigorous training, trying to sharpen their minds against the Darkness, so the Vanguard would never have to face another threat like Dredgen Yor.

Of course, he couldn't say that to them, they would most likely think him insane, talking about a sleeping god and evil dark forces out in space, because from what he had seen, the humans here didn't seem to possess regular technology, he hadn't seen a data pad once.

So he lied, like he was going to have to do for a long time.

"Learned it from a friend, he was pretty serious about that stuff, didn't want our minds to get taken over, never really saw the point, but one day, boom! Empire shows up." And he left it at that, because he had no idea what the Empire was, and why they were bad people for these guys to be discovered by.

For some reason, the thought of a black robe wearing old man popped into his head, followed by the sound of heavy breathing, but he blocked that out in favor of watching the old man's incredulous look.

"Never the less, I need some way to prove you are not who you say you aren't, I need to look into your mind."

The Hunter across from him instantly clamped up, warry of what the old man would try, and he also felt Io do that same, head poking up and staring directly at the old man.

Aiden, didn't want that at all, the things he had seen, the death and destruction he had witnessed and wrought himself? It wasn't something he wanted to share, the only people he would ever let inside was Io and Stitch, and that was because they had seen the horrors, they had seen the Cabal slaughter thei-.

He stopped himself, hand trembling, feeling the foreign weight upon it, and only now noticing that Io had gotten rid of his cloak, and was laying on his hand, probably to stop the concerned looking people across from him from pushing the issue.

"I… I can't do that, I, would rather you not see into my mind." He said, his hand starting to shake less now that he had Io there, doing whatever she was doing to comfort him, probably sending him happy thoughts, knowing her.

The old man seemed to at least somewhat understand, and instead decided to suggest a different approach.

"Very well, instead, I shall have you swear to us in the Ancient language, that you are no foe, and no servant of the Empire, if you cannot accept that, then I can not think of any other way of gaining the truth." He finished, pressing the Guardian into a corner, accept his deal, or face the consequences, of course, he didn't miss the subtle hint in there, swear in this Ancient language, or fight all three of them, normally he would be glad to do it, but with Io here, in a physical body no less… he couldn't risk it.

He agreed, his reluctance showing, and his mind wondering onto the matter of how a language would determine his truthfulness.

The man started saying words, that sounded strange even to him, the Guardian with space magic, but once he was done with whatever ritual he was doing, the old man waited patiently for the Guardian to say the words.

He did, voice not wavering in the slightest, only when he had finished his words, did he feel a small power surge through him, feeling very much like his Light, only smaller, less refined, whatever he just said, it gave him the feel of a truthful granny making pie.

He probably shouldn't look too much into that.

The old man smiled, a brief twitch of his lips telling him that whatever he just did, it had at least pleased the old hermit, and it meant he wouldn't have to fight off a giant dragon girl, which was always a plus.

The Guardian set down the now sleeping Io, careful to not wake the poor girl, and focused upon the dragon who was very suddenly right in his face, staring at him with a look that was hard to identify because of her draconic features, it was like trying to figure out what a Vex was feeling, except a lot less dangerous.

"Uh, can I help you?" He asked afraid of what the giant sapphire would do this close to his tiny head.

She snorted, before he felt a presence attempt to enter his mind, not forcefully, but enough for him to recognize it, and judging by the shove the dragon had given him, it was her, still, just because she wasn't trying to eat him, didn't mean he could let all his guard down, so he invited her in, careful to not show her any of the memories that were for the two other voices in his head.

 _"_ _Hey dragon lady, welcome to my head, can I help you?"_ He thought, watching her eye twitch, whether in amusement or irritation, he could not tell.

 _"_ _The young one cares for you, she is not someone you should disappoint, I hope you realize the gift you have been given, dragons do not choose those who are unworthy, now, what may my companions call you, Young Wolf?"_ She asked, her explanation of how dragons chose their friends, and the fact that she had called him the same name as Lord Saladin surprising him somewhat.

 _"_ _My name, Big Sapphire, is Aiden, uh… Aiden Arcstrider, and, I hope I won't have to disappoint her._ He thought to her, enjoying the fact that he had gotten a fifteen foot long dragon to laugh at one of his names, and that he had come up with such an excellent fake name on the fly.

Of course after the dragon lady left his mind, Stitch decided to ruin his fun.

 _"_ _You seriously named yourself after one of your supers? That's lame, even for you."_ He said, practically feeling his Guardian roll his eyes all the way inside his little backpack.

" _What was I supposed to do? I don't even know my last name you little Light bulb!"_ He thought back, blocking Io out of their conversation so she didn't get woken up by the very rude Ghost.

 _"_ _Still man, that was pretty bad. Anyway, seems you made some companions without try to kill them, except for that old guy, any reason why you decided to be all friendly with them_?" His Ghost asked, trying to figure out how he could prank the other three across from them, maybe by transmatting their sleeping bags?

Aiden sighed, fully aware of his Ghosts plan, not really agreeing with it, and trying to figure out how all five of them would get any sleep inside the tiny wing they found themselves in.

He settled down, placing his head upon the Dragons scaly belly, hoping she wouldn't mind him resting on her very warm side, and thinking on the question his Ghost had asked.

 _"_ _I don't know, I think maybe because these guys will be good influences for Io, or maybe they seem like their running from something, and my amazing adventurous self wants to lend a hand, or maybe, just maybe, I might find some good loot after this one"_ He thought, wondering about just why he had agreed to help them, maybe because he was bored of peace already? He didn't know, one thing he did understand was, whatever this Empire was about, they didn't seem to like dragons, if the old man was correct in his assumption, then only three dragons were alive, Big Sapphire, Io, and some other one.

He sighed, watching Io as she slowly scooted her way over towards him, seemingly half awake, and not caring about the fact that she was dragging his precious cloak in the dirt, only when she got up against his side did she settle, letting out a content purr when he laid his hand upon her head, slowly stroking it, causing her to once again fall into a slumber.

The Guardian sighed, looking out of the wing that was protecting them from the intense storm outside, only seeing small flashes of lighting and large waves of rain to indicate it wouldn't give up any time soon.

Being peaceful, despite almost getting into a fight on his first day, wasn't so bad, he had gotten Io a body, found some traveling companions, at least he hoped he did, and maybe just found another quest to embark on, all in all, he could safely sleep tonight without worrying about some threat to humanity, although the kid asking about his leg would be annoying, but otherwise he could sleep peacefully, with Io at his side, and Stitch in his backpack…

And maybe with Fatebringer resting under his leg, just in case…

 **Authors notes! And mini freakout!**

 **Ever have a moment where you accidentally delete your whole chapter? And have a small heart attack where you feel as though you're about to die? That was me, because I didn't want to redo my seven thousand word chapter because of a moment of stupidity. But after much work (Pressing redo a thousand times) I got it back in one piece**

 **General ramblings.**

 **So I fished this one out of the old brain box, hope you all enjoy it, backstory, our hero meeting the ugh, other hero, and dragons, so far I think I'm not doing terrible, but that up for you guys and gals to decide.**

 **Reviews!**

 **An Anonymoose: Thanks! I hope I wont disappoint you good sir or madam.**

 **The Crimson Commando: Yea, im kinda weird on commas, if I think a paragraph or sentence is getting to long, I plop them where they seem to fit, sorry if that annoys you. And on the Exotic bone stuff, thanks I figured I would need a way to convey that he could wear more than one on each, but also making it clear that is wasn't without consequences.**

 **As always, hope you enjoy my chapter, and have a good day ladies and gents!**


	3. Darkness Rising

The Guardian heard the rustling of clothes being picked up, and the whispered speaking of a boy and an old man, but he honestly couldn't care, to engrossed in his time being used as a pillow, with Io currently resting her head upon his arm, and Stitch going through some old tales from before the Golden age, all was content.

Until he felt the small boot kick his leg with minimal force, probably so they didn't wake the sleeping Ahamkara next to him.

The Hunter looked towards the old man, who he had still not had the pleasure of hearing a name, and slowly lifted the awakening dragon off of the ground, and made a small sling for her to rest in with his cloak, because he was a kind and considerate person.

" _You just want her to keep snuggling you."_ Said the dastardly Stitch, who was taking time out of his very busy schedule of reading things like a person who wasn't a super computer to taunt his Guardian.

 _"_ _Well I'd like to see you try and wake up a girl who hasn't slept in eight hundred years."_ The Hunter spoke, referencing Io's years inside her bones, where her mind was constantly awake, even before they had found her hidden within the depths of Oryx's Dreadnaught.

That was certainly depressing.

So instead he set his sights on his prosthetic leg, which thanks to yesterday's storm, was covered in dirt and grime, which would most likely clog up his internal systems until Stitch could revive him, or clean the thing with a small transmat.

He sighed, realizing that with his new companions came the trouble of having to do things normally, such as cleaning his leg, his cloak, and most likely, Io and himself, which would certainly be awkward if the girl didn't know how to do it.

Aiden looked towards the others, no longer under the cover of Big Sapphires wing, and seemingly having a much harder time dealing with horses then the old tales of knights implied, although most of those tales didn't involve two dragons, a magic old grandpa, and an immortal warrior from another planet.

 _"_ _They uh, didn't actually have any myths like that did they?"_ The Hunter asked, checking over his collection of knives to make sure none had slipped out during his brief little tumble with the old man, who was watching him with what he probably assumed were measured glances, but he caught the old hermit staring at any of the knives he brought out, he didn't trust him yet.

Which was good really, he was being hunted, at least the guardian thought so, but it was his right to be suspicious of a person that had appeared in the middle of a freak storm.

Stitch, after doing what sounded like a mental page flip, finally answered his question.

" _Can't seem to find any reference to a mythological space god, but who knows, we lost a lot in the Collapse, I'm sure there was something about aliens or something similar to a Guardian. Man, your ancestors were weird."_ He finished, probably complaining about some terrible myth humans had made over the years.

"Aiden?" The Hunter heard, name coming from the lips of the kid who seemed to be linked with Big Blue, looking over his Iron Banner gear with what looked like admiration, and staring at the sleeping dragon held next to his chest, kicking her legs occasionally, probably enjoying a good hunt in her dream.

"That's me, anything I can do for you Mr. Kid?

The boy looked slightly embarrassed at that, having not properly introduced himself, or his old grandpa, then again, the person he was talking to had been held at blade point the other day, so maybe that was what caused a distraction.

He focused on the kid before him, who was hopefully going to introduce himself soon.

"My name is Eragon, and that's Brom." He said, indicating the old man who had practically held him captive the night before, who was searching through their bags, although he could also be seen looking towards them, probably to make sure Sir Eragon didn't get his head chopped off by an errant Guardian.

 _"_ _You joke about it now, but I remember what you did to poor Ikora."_ Stitch said, voice bored and distracted, probably not even realizing he had said that to his Guardian.

Said Guardian bristled, wanting to lash out at his Ghost with his voice, not in mental shouting, something about cursing someone out for all to hear was infinitely better then in your head.

He settled for a punch to his head, which hurt him more than Stitch, but it was the principle that mattered, although the headache and strange looks he received from his other three companions slightly detracted from that feeling of victory.

 _"_ _I told you to never mention that again! It was an accident and you know it!"_ He shouted in his head, hoping Io didn't choose this exact moment to awaken from her slumber, because he couldn't handle two voices commenting on his embarrassing display.

 _"_ _You expect me to never mention just how much trouble you got in for sending a saw blade of Arc energy straight into Ikora's neck?"_ The Ghost questioned, singular eye perked up in a slight amount of doubt, not that his Guardian could see it.

 _"_ _I expect you to like, I don't know, talk about it with your Ghost buddies, not bring it up every time I ask for Bolt Caster!"_ The Hunter complained, unaware of the confused and somewhat concerned looks he was receiving from the boy and his dragon, or the tiny pebble racing towards his head.

He did notice when it smacked him directly on his forehead, causing him to clutch his head and whisper angry curses, looking out of the eye not covered by a hand towards the smug looking old man, who held another rock in his hand, most likely for if the first one didn't work out.

"So, Aiden, I can only assume that since you are still here, you wish to travel with us?" He asked, throwing the small stone in the air and catching it, appearing as harmless as he could, even if the rock he had thrown really hurt.

 _"_ _You've taken a sword through the gut, suck it up and respond"_ Stitch said, bringing him out of his thoughts, and allowing him to catch the second rock thrown at his head.

"Ha! Take that old ma-" another rock pinged him in the ear, causing him to clutch it in pain, and to lose his footing on the slippery mud, sending him and Io tumbling into the dirt, awakening the now dirty dragon with a shriek.

Aiden got up, armor and cloak now coated in a fresh covering of mud, ruining whatever good mood that might have been gained from hearing Io screech.

"That was a cheap shot." He grumbled, picking up the confused Io, and putting her over his shoulder, because the sling he was using was also covered in dirt, and he didn't feel like being dirty alone while she slept the day away.

"To answer your question, yes, I would like to travel with you, me and Io would like to explore, and you three seem to be going places." He said, trying to wring out any water from his cloak as he could, grumbling in his head about how easier it would have been if Stitch were the one cleaning.

Brom, or the Old man as Aiden was going to call him, seemed to already realize this, if his brief glance towards Big Blue and Eragon was any indication, but he settled his eyes upon the Hunter, staring straight into his eyes, looking for something that even Aiden and could not decipher, but whatever it was, the old man seemed to have found it if the nod of his head was any indication.

"I hope you can keep up, we don't have any spare horses, and you will have to buy your own water and food once we get to Yazuac, so get prepared for a long walk." He said, before he went back to packing his own gear, not giving the smiling Hunter behind him a second glance.

The Old man thought he couldn't keep up? Ha! His years fighting the Darkness had taught him one thing very well, if you couldn't outgun something, you need to be able to outrun something, and he was very good at running from things, throwing in some Arc energy into his legs also helped.

He finished clearing his cloak of as much dirt as he could, not even bothering with his armor our Io, because he hoped that rain would come soon, maybe not as strong as yesterday, but certainly enough to give him some water.

The other organic males of the group were already packed, setting everything they had on their horses, but what caught the Guardians eyes the most was the ruby red blade, which held the power of Darkness within it.

It wasn't enough to be considered dangerous of course, everything held Darkness within, but some levels were much more noticeable, like the sword that had nearly taken his head off.

The only real question was why the boy was holding onto a sword that must have had a very terrible past.

He had virtually no time to think on this, because all the sudden Big Blue decided to once again shower him and Io in a wave of dirt and mud with her massive wing beats, which also conveniently covered his shouting from the ears of the horse riding boys, who had already gotten as far away from her splash zone as possible.

"Traveler damn it!" He shouted towards the dragon that had done him such a horrible inconvenience, vowing to get her back, one day…

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He was running, not keeping up with the horses, but certainly keeping them within sight, of course he couldn't run full force, doing so would drain too much of his Light, and reveal that he might have more than just great stamina.

Still, Io was having the time of her life, clinging to his shoulder, digging her claws into the protective covering of his arms and whooping because of the feeling of air on her wings for what felt like the first time.

 _"_ _This is amazing!"_ She shouted, projecting her mental voice across the plain, something she was never able to do when she was still a bunch of bones, then again, he hadn't had that ability either, but whatever Vex lady did for him certainly increased his mental fortitude.

 _"_ _Now I know she isn't Vex, not even they could increase your peanut sized brain."_ Stitch said to the both of them, causing one running Guardian to smack his head, and one freeloading Ahamkara to giggle in her tiny dragon voice.

While that little insult had been entertaining, the Guardian got somewhat serious, something was happening, he was getting a feeling, as though something bad was on the horizon.

It was similar to what he felt when entering a Darkness zone, where all the Light had been driven out and consumed by the forces of Darkness, only wherever he was going was much weaker, there was still Light, clinging on to something within the Darkness. The most concerning part of this journey was that they were headed straight into it.

The speeding Hunter slowed himself, catching up to the two horses relatively easily since they had stopped, a large river was able to be seen in the distance, as well as a village, where he could feel it, the evil only Darkness could produce, and he wasn't excited about walking into it.

"The Ninor River." Brom pointed out, lifting his finger towards the snaking canal.

Eragon, who had just stopped his horse, spoke next "Sapphira will be seen if she stays with us much longer. Should she hide while we go to Yazuac?" He asked, looking towards Brom.

Brom simply scratched his chin, seemingly thinking about the town ahead of them, before he gave a look towards the river and spoke.

"See that bend in the river? Have her wait there. It's far enough from Yazuac so no one should find her, but close enough that she won't be left behind. We'll go through the town, get what we need, and then meet her." He finished, looking towards Aiden and Io, probably trying to figure out what to do with them.

"Yea no, she stays with me, not leaving her alone." He stated, daring anyone to defy his choice.

Brom seemed to expect this, if his rolling eyes were any indication, but he decided to relent with a compromise.

"Keep her covered in our bags, if she moves we can explain it away with the horses being skittish." He said, pointing towards a near empty bag on the side of Eragon's horse.

The Guardian gave a nod, turning over towards the young boy's horse to do exactly that, covering her in any random pieces of cloth that he could, even his poor dirty cloak.

 _"_ _You guys feel it too right?"_ He asked, directing his question to Io and Stitch, questioning if the feeling of foreboding was limited to just him.

" _Yea, whatever's ahead is dangerous, should Io really come with us? She has no way of defending herself should a fight occur"_ Stitch said, pointedly ignoring the huff that the young Ahamkara gave.

 _"_ _Can't risk her being alone, I'm sure that Big Blue is capable, but I'd rather you be in my hands for the moment, okay Io?_ " He asked, directing his gaze to the little bundle of clothes with his question, and receiving what looked like a nod from the covered dragon.

And with that, the two started riding, while Aiden walked, into what was looking to be a very bad situation.

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They were close, near the first house even, and from the start he could feel the wrongness in the air.

Everything was silent, a village that should have been bustling with people and animals alike was completely silent, all noise drowned out somehow, the feeling of Darkness wafting through the air, almost suffocating for the Guardian, but he kept his senses alert, wherever there was Darkness, its minions were sure to be close behind.

His two companions were discussing that same thing he had thought of, something was wrong, and the silence was unnerving them, among other things.

"Stop" The Hunter said, catching the eye of both horse riding companions, both giving curious looks towards him.

"Something isn't right, bad things have happened here…" He stated, eyes peeled towards whatever movement could come from the village.

"What do you mean?" Eragon asked, also looking towards the village again, only this time with a far more cautious gaze.

"I have a feeling, something isn't right about this, something is in there, and its bad." The Hunter said, finally confirming what he had been feeling.

Before when he had been farther away, it had been hard to figure out what exactly the Darkness in the area was doing, but now that he was closer, he could feel it moving, never staying stagnant, always shifting to consume any ambient Light that could be found.

Darkness was a difficult thing to figure out, it was enigmatic, but one thing he had learned over the years was that when Darkness moved about, such as right now, whatever made it appear was still nearby.

Meaning whatever had caused this was still inside.

"I know it sounds strange, but we need to leave, something is in there, and it could be bad." He said, catching the smallest hint of movement inside the unnatural shadows cast inside the town.

Stitch heard the sound of a bow being drawn far before his Hunter could have, alerting him through the neural link, because his voice would have been to slow, and the newly alerted Hunter set his sights on the spot that had moved, seeing a dark figure with gleaming eyes, staring directly at Eragon.

He put two and two together, and produced a knife from his sleeve, soaring through the air to land directly in between the shocked eyes of whatever had almost shot its bow.

"RUN!" The Guardian shouted, seeing even more shapes emerge from the shadows, huge and hideous beasts covered in fur, with large horns upon their heads, all of them held crude weapons, a broken sword, a massive club of wood, one even had a table leg, but what mattered at the moment was the bows being aimed towards the two horses.

The two horse riders took his advice , turning their horses around and racing away from the group of beasts, leaving a lone Hunter to deal with them, because from the look of them, they hadn't let the villagers escape the raid.

His eyes darkened, Solar energy casting itself in his hands, showing his palms in a brilliant fire, casting out the Darkness that was trying to leech his light, and giving the monsters before him pause.

His hands clenched, the Solar Light slowly traveling up his body, glowing in a way that almost seemed hypnotic, burning away the dirt and grime that had been on his armor into ash, and once the Light had traveled all the way to his head, he used the power he had been gathering into his palm, where a newly materialized Fatebringer rested.

He channeled the power of the sun into his gun, not the full power of a real Golden gun, but just enough that the beasts before him would feel pain for what they had done.

He aimed, shooting a bullet filled with Solar power directly into one of the beast's chest, power slowly disintegrating him, his pain filled screams giving the Hunter a grim satisfaction, and causing the crowd of monsters to look towards him with a mixture of fear and anger, and then they charged.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this, it wasn't right, but it was too similar, to close too what the Cabal had done, coming in and slaughtering his people, destroying the only home they had ever known, and that angered him, the fact that monsters like this could come and slaughter innocent people, he would not stand for it.

He had nine more shots, more than enough to kill them all.

His aim switched towards a group of two, shooting ones arm off, and the other in the head, the last one a clean kill, which isn't what he wanted.

One was charging at him with a cleaver, most likely taken from a villager it had killed, it found its foolish charge ended by a Solar charged bullet to the throat, ending its miserable life then and there, while another attempted to run into the town, possibly to get reinforcements, or to alert its leader.

He couldn't have that.

It was shot down instantly, leaving him with four bullets, and three beasts.

He leapt towards one that was hiding in the back of the group, ending its miserable life with a flick of his wrist and the pull of a finger, hearing its dying screech cut off by the power of Sol, he turned, aiming his Fatebringer towards the stomach of the second beast, pulling the trigger, and then placing his second to last bullet in between the eyes of the last monster.

He breathed in, letting the rage that had filled his power slowly ebb away, trying to get the nasty feeling out of his very essence from using such brutal attacks, flooding his system with Solar energy was not a good idea, especially when he was on an anger high.

He hadn't lost control like that in a while, three months if his calculations were correct, and that was certainly bad, it meant that he was coming close to another rel-

"Look out!" He heard, young voice filled with panic for some reason, and the sound of large footsteps drowning out the aching in his head from overusing his Solar energy.

He turned around as fast as he could, seeing another of the monsters aiming a very sharp and very dangerous sword towards his head, to close for Fatebringer, and to large of a blade for one of his knives, there was no way he could block it in time with what he had.

Unless…

Stitch instantly got the message that was sent through their link, using his lightning fast perception to send out the one thing that could block the attack that would be fatal.

The two seeing him magically transmat a sword into his grasp would be tough to explain, but not nearly as hard as trying to explain that he could take any blow and come back to life afterword's.

Bolt Caster lit up in his grasp, Arc forged edge shining in the daylight, a barrier forming between the beasts sword and the Guardian, protecting him from what would have been a painful death, and giving him the upper hand when the hairy creature found itself confused at the sudden appearance of a sword.

He twirled himself in a circle, swinging Bolt Caster through the air, and slicing the head clean off of the beast that had almost taken his, ending their confrontation then and there.

He sighed, looking towards the town to see if any more of the devils would come out of hiding, and after assuring himself nothing else would get the drop on him, he turned towards the awed teen, and deeply suspicious old man.

His night was going to be very long, he decided, sheathing Bolt Caster on his back and walking towards the now hopefully empty town, aware of the repugnant stench of dead bodies piled together, hoping he could avoid the talks that were definitely going to be happening soon

He heard the steps closing in behind him, but honestly, he couldn't care, he knew what he was going to find ahead and he didn't want to see it, but Io and the others needed food, unlike him.

He found exactly what he was looking for, and what he was dreading.

A large mound of bodies sat upon the middle of the town, a child laid upon the top, middle holding a spear inside, keeping her pinned to the pile, and leaving a dreadful warning to any who came here, no one would be spared.

This was it, where the Darkness had come from, all the fear, sorrow, and anger here had only helped to grow the evil forces festering in the air, with his highly attuned senses for Light and Dark, it was easy to feel the suffocating power that the evil had over this place, it was enormous, attempting to drown out his Light and destroy what he was.

But he refused.

He knew they were watching, his companions seeing the pain and sorrow, but the people here needed their rest, if they were left here, their souls would either be consumed, or left to fester in the area until their inner Light was blocked out by the Darkness.

He had spent centuries slowly being consumed by the Darkness, he would not let others feel the same pain.

His hand lit with Solar once again, causing his already dry reserves to thirst for more, taking it out of his Light instead of the environment, but he didn't have time to gather any more, they needed to be released from their hell now.

He laid his hand delicately upon the mound, bending the power of Sol to his will, and causing it to engulf the pile, burning away the Darkness, and giving these people a small hope for a better afterlife.

The two were shouting at him, possibly because he had just committed a grave sin in their land, but he could not care, he refused to let the Darkness take any more victims this day, their beliefs would hold no sway over him in this moment.

He heard a small release of air behind him, turning to see a most heartbreaking sight.

Io was there, staring at the bodies with dread, she was sobbing, he realized, chest heaving and eyes appearing to water, amethyst orbs once filled with a shyness and happiness that he had never seen before were now clouded with grief, causing himself and Stitch to involuntarily shudder.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, they had tried so hard to shield her from this, but they should have known it would happen eventually, in the world of Guardians, it was inevitable for this to happen.

That didn't mean it hurt less when it did.

He picked her up, covering her eyes with his hands, walking away from the smoldering pile of corpses, trying his best to shield her from the grim sight behind her, not caring for the sad looks directed towards him and Io, not caring when Big Blue landed next to him, once again covering him in dirt, he didn't care when he had finally waded into the cool river and started cleaning Io.

All was silent, she spoke no words, and he didn't dare try to either, he could feel her turmoil, she was innocent, the only death she had seen coming from evil monsters who had deserved what they gotten, but this? It was something she hadn't seen, he had blocked off all of his memories of the Last City and its fall for exactly this reason, so she could continue being young and innocent for just a little bit longer.

He wished he could do something, say something to her, but even he held no solution except for blocking it away, but even then, the memories would come back, always washing over her when she least expected it, he knew from experience.

 _"_ _T-they were all gone…"_ She whispered, eyes distant, not looking towards anything except the mound of burning bodies she had seen.

"I know Io" He responded, stopping his cleaning of violet scales for just a moment, listening to the girl before him speak.

 _"_ _W-why does that happen? Why, why do people have t-to die like that?"_ She asked, eyes still looking towards the horizon.

"I… couldn't tell you Io." He said, and he meant it, he had no idea why people had to live in a world with such cruelty, where their death could come at any second.

She only held her composure for a moment, even then it was impressive that she had been able to hold herself together for this long, but unlike him, she wasn't an expert at holding himself back, and he found himself being gripped with two clawed appendages, digging into his sides and causing slight discomfort, but he didn't care about that, he just held on to the crying Ahamkara next to him, hearing the distinct clopping of hooves and the small thuds of Big Blue.

They stayed that way for a while, him comforting the crying dragon while they were both slowly cleaned of the dirt, grime, and blood they had acquired through the past two days, only when the Hunter felt the young Ahamkara's conscious go into a dream like state did he slowly lift himself from his sitting position upon the banks, walking towards the camp that had been set up the earlier in the day.

All three of his companions were there, watching his steps with a small sadness, looking towards the cleaned dragon with pity, Brom seemed the most upset, for reasons the Guardian could not guess, and did not want to.

One good thing about this dreaded day was the fact that no one had asked about his leg, but then again, he would have preferred that a thousand times more then what had actually happened.

No one questioned him on his sword, or the strange power he had used, they were all to emotionally drained to care about such things, they only set themselves down for a long sleep, the ones to sleep first being the two other humans of the group.

He only sat there, holding unto Io and giving small reassuring pats whenever she seemed to have a nightmare, giving Stitch the go ahead to read some old books while he stayed guard.

Big Blue was awake as well, staring at him with a look he could not decipher, eyes occasionally shifting towards the sleeping dragon in his lap, her eyes telling the tale of how she felt about the tragedy that the young girl had been forced to see today.

"Some Guardian huh?" he said silently, knowing deep down the Big Blue could hear him, but not really caring.

"From the day I was born it has been my duty to protect others from the Darkness, I have done it for so long, always being the shield that protected my people from the sword that was the outside world, I made a vow to protect all who needed it, yet I can't even keep a little dragon from seeing the true evil of this world." He said, watching the dragon across from him study his eyes for a brief moment, once again searching for something he could not identify.

He felt her conscious brush against his, asking for her permission to enter his mind, he let her, careful to shield her from his dark thoughts.

 _"_ _You have done the best that you could Young Wolf, you saved my partner from what might have been a gruesome death, and kept yours from experiencing the same fate, you have done far more to protect her then you give yourself credit for, Guardian."_ She replied, sapphire eyes holding a warmth that surprised the Hunter sitting across the camp from her.

He sighed, looking towards the stars while thinking on the words spoken to him, and the small measure of truth they held.

He had a small thought, something that should have occurred to him earlier, but had been kept away from his mind because of everything else.

 _"_ _I never got around to asking properly, but what is your name Big Blue?"_ He asked, watching the dragon lift her brow a small amount and snort out some smoke, amused by his name it seemed.

 _"_ _My name is Saphira, Aiden, it is about time that you had asked, Young Io has been calling me Big Blue for some time now because of you."_ She snorted, informing the tired Guardian that she didn't mind his little nickname, which was good, since Io seemed to have revealed his name to the giant dragon.

He laughed, silently, hoping to not stir the girl in his arms, and yawned unconsciously, his body ready for another couple year of fighting, but his mind taxed because of today's events.

Big Blu- Saphira seemed to sense his tiredness, giving him a small mental nudge towards a bedroll, and reassuring him that she could stand guard for now.

He nodded his head, thankful that he might have another night of comforting sleep before his big day tomorrow, setting Io next to him and covering her with his freshly cleaned cloak, careful to not wake her, before he set his gaze once again towards the stars.

Today had been a disaster, but with a small measure of hope, he felt that tomorrow would be better, not for his sake, but for Io, who deserved better then to feel the cold hard reality of the world so soon.

He was a Guardian, defender of humanity and the Last city had been his previous title, but now, he had something else to protect, and it was right next to him….

Stitch of course decided to ruin the moment by pointing out that there was also someone in his head who he needed to protect.

" _You always ruin my heartwarming moments, damnit Stitch! I'm asking for one time where you don't completely ruin it man!" He shouted in his head, once again blocking Io from their scuffle._

" _And all I'm asking for is to sometimes be included in these moments but noooo! It's too hard to remember the person who brought your sorry ass back to life!"_

 _"_ _Screw off Little light!"_

 _"_ _Bite me Saladin's pet!"_

 _"…_ _.."_

 _"…_ _.."_

 _"_ _Goodnight Stitch"_

 _"_ _Goodnight Aiden"_

And with that, they slept a deep and fulfilling sleep.

 **Authors notes! Hurra!**

 **DarkRising32: Okay listen here, you saw nuthing! NUTHING!  
But thanks anyway…**

 **Commissar Carl: Aren't all Guardian overpowered? With their ability to, yah know, not die? And I'll have you know the Traveler made all Ghost's sarcastic assholes.**

 **As for Io, it was fifty fifty, male or female, and I didn't want that thing where a male would be super pressured into breeding with Saphira, so yea, as for her voice, well, as far as we know only a couple Ahamkara talk that way, and I didn't honestly want to make a character that people would lose interest for because the rhyming thing got old after sentence two.**

 **(Bonus thing!) Hunters are my favorite, 1v1 me bro, and the Bad Juju isn't made from bones, like I said in the first chap, its only covered in them. and uh, thanks for the compliment towards my writing skills.**

 **Ebony-The-Dragon: Hey thanks! Brings a tear to my eye when people enjoy my work, keep up them reviews!**

 **An Anonymoose: I hope I didn't like seriously ruin the characters in this chap, if I did, don't point it out and see how long it takes me to figure out that I really botched it this time.**

 **General ramblings**

 **I know it's a short chapter today guys, but I hope you enjoy it all the same, kinda broke my heart to already ruin a characters mind on chapter three, but I had to do it for uh, reasons.**

 **Anyways, as always, have a good day ladies and gents, and don't smoke the drugs!**


	4. Inventory Snooping With Vex Lady Fun

He awoke with a small start, searching the area around him with careful eyes, and after identifying that nothing was amiss, he sat himself up, careful to not wake the Ahamkara sleeping beside him. He heard the crackling of fire in the early morning, seeing the old man, Brom, staring at him with very suspicious eyes, seemingly deep in thought on some subject concerning the Hunter sitting across the fire he had set up, probably to warm everyone while they slept.

The Guardian sighed, hoping he could have put of the line of questions that were sure to come, and he stood up, carefully, as to not wake the other dragon and her partner, who were in a very deep looking sleep.

They both sat down near the fire, the crackling bringing an idea to the Hunter on how he could possibly speed this interrogation along, the only downside was that the old man could take it as a sign of aggression, which wouldn't end well for anyone.

He lifted his hand towards the flame, using his Light to bring a small amount of it into his palm, slowly morphing the tiny ember in his hand into a fierce inferno of Solar energy, causing whatever little amount of light the fire was casting in the dawn to be drowned out because of the brightness of his flame.

Brom was mystified, staring at the flame in his palm with fascination, the unnatural Solar Light filling both of them with a calm that betrayed the serious nature of their talks.

"It's called Solar." The Hunter said, dropping his hand directly into the fire, and letting the energy consume the small flame, making the fire become one of Solar energy.

"It allows me to channel the power of the sun into my palm, what you just saw was one of its more… Mundane uses." He finished, completely removing his hand unscathed from the reborn fire, which would most likely continue to burn for a long time should they not put it out.

"You speak of it as though it isn't magic." Brom said, looking at the Hunters unburnt hand with a small amount of wonder, possibly from seeing something like that.

"So is that what you did to me the night we met? Used magic to contain me?" He also asked, dodging the question like a pro, of course, the old man seemed to have noticed his little trick, but he set it aside for the moment.

"Yes, I spoke the words for constricting in the Ancient language, they didn't seem to stop you at the time, but even then, you broke my hold over you as though it was nothing, and I think I see why now." He said, eyes once again drifting to the Solar fire that was warming them inside and out.

His eyes met the Hunters once again, and he asked a simple question.

"This is not magic, is it?"

The Hunter gave a nod, not wanting to interrupt whatever else the old man was going to say

"Whatever it was, it was powerful, beyond any simple flame, stronger even, I have never once seen a flame that could not be controlled by saying its True name, but yours resisted. How?"

The Hunter gave a confused look, whatever these True names were, they were seemingly a lot more importance then he could understand.

He looked towards the flame, watching it crackle and smoke, filling him with a calm that only Light could bring, burning away the stress of yesterday, and almost making him forget about what Io had experienced.

He sighed, looking towards the old man who seemed to have a grasp on what he was thinking.

"Solar energy is unlike anything you will ever see, only a select few can channel it, and even fewer can do so to the degree I can, it's a power that can do many things, warm you during the night, cast out almost any Darkness, and, if the situation calls for it, defend you from evil." He finished, looking towards the river near them.

"I cannot tell you why you cannot control my fire, maybe your magic just isn't compatible, or maybe my flame and any normal one does not share the same… True name you called it?" The old man across from him gave a nod, allowing him to continue. "But you say with this Ancient language, you can use magic? Because if so, I would like you to teach me and the boy." The Hunter said, staring into the apprehensive eyes of the old man across from him

Brom sighed, looking towards both the sleeping Eragon and the sitting Hunter, going through a mental battle in his head, debating on whether or not they could be trusted with the power magic gave.

He looked towards the Solar fire, seeing the strange boy who held a strange power, he held a deep feeling that conjuring flames without the Ancient language was the least of his power.

"I suppose it is both of your rights, eventually you will both need to learn magic, all Riders do after all. If you are strong of mind, and you can handle the power magic gives, I shall teach both of you." He said, looking towards the slowly rising sun in contemplation.

"Yes, I shall attempt to teach you tomorrow, hopefully you can absorb the knowledge as well as these dragons can absorb food." He chuckled at the end of his little joke, finding a humor that Aiden failed to see, but he gave a small laugh to be nice.

 _"_ _Aiden, she's waking up."_ Stitch said, causing the small smirk that had settled upon his Hunters face to turn into a frown, looking in the direction of the rousing purple dragon, shifting her eyes around hesitantly, probably trying to find her missing Hunter.

He gave a small mental nudge, pointing her in the direction of the campfire. She looked towards them, eyes still clouded from sleep, but she could clearly see the Solar fire and the two people sitting next to it. She walked slowly, most likely still tired because of how long she had spent awake, but she still managed to keep herself up long enough to climb into her Hunters lap and settle down next to the calming fire.

He laughed a small humorless laugh, petting his friends head and slowly letting her drift back into sleep, hopefully without any lingering nightmares about yesterday and what she had seen.

Brom also seemed to hope for the same, if his eyebrows and sympathetic look were anything to go by.

While Io was asleep, he needed to ask some questions to said old man, because there were a few things that needed to be cleared up.

"So Riders, can you tell me a few things about them? From the way you spoke of them, they were quite important, and I'm not that good at remembering if I have heard stuff like that." He lied, hoping that Riders weren't such a big topic that everyone knew about them.

While Brom lifted his brows a little at that statement, he didn't seem to be surprised that the Hunter didn't know much about them, which was good as it meant he could have some leeway when he asked questions about them.

"Dragon riders were people who had the fortune of being chosen by an unborn dragon to be partners, few know this, but dragons only hatch for those who they are destined to be with, it is a great honor, and at times, a great burden." He said, looking at the Guardian to check if he was paying attention.

"Riders are gifted many things because of this partnership, a new life partner, an extended life unless unnatural causes end it to soon, and, most importantly, magic for those who can harness it."

"While casting your mind out is also included, it is very common for those who bother to search into it, but the king takes away any who shows promise in the field, meaning not many are brave enough to attempt it." He finished, looking towards the Hunter, finding not a look of shock or awe from being told he could gain near immortal life, just interest, and a small look towards Io.

"How long does it take for dragon to mature? I don't think Io would appreciate me riding her at the current moment." He joked, watching the tiny dragons ear twitch at hearing her name.

Brom gave a small smirk, before answering the young Hunters question.

"Most dragons can be ridden after almost five months of birth, at six, most can breathe fire and mate should the need arise, of course their flame starts out small and weak, but once they become used to it and they grow their lungs out, they can keep one going for a few minutes." He claimed, looking at the Hunter and his dragon in humor.

The Hunter certainly was interested in that tad bit of information, if he was correct in his assumption that Saphira could not yet breath fire, then she must have been at least five or four months old, maybe somewhere older, but from all the reports the Vanguard had on Ahamkara's, even the powerful wish dragons had not been able to grow that fast.

 _"_ _Any ideas Stitch?"_ He asked, not trusting the accuracy of a report done by Shaxx was like not trusting Eris Morn to be cryptic, it just didn't happen.

 _"_ _Not that I can think of, this conversation is already taking me a while to get behind, I mean magic, really?"_ His Ghost questioned, voice skeptical.

 _"_ _Oh please, what we do could be qualified as magic Stitch, we just happened to find a name for it, these guys seem to have a whole language for things, maybe that's the laymen's term for whatever magic is, who knows."_ He said, thinking on the night he had been imprisoned by the old man, and how it had felt strange to say the least.

 _"_ _Whatever you say, but I'm going to keep a look out for whatever this stuff is, don't want it getting another shot to surprise us."_ He finished, most likely going into "Research mode" to try and figure out magic.

"Alright, enough about that, how can I learn me some magic?" The Hunter questioned, rubbing his hands together as though he was about to lift something heavy.

Brom didn't seem to find his casual speaking about magic to be funny, but he also seemed to find it funny, somewhat, which was a win in the Hunters book.

"What you ask could be taken as ignorance, asking for such power so blatantly could also be taken as an insult. What you're asking for is dangerous, the only reason I have even told you any of this is because you are a Rider, but that does not give you any special privileges. We won't just jump into these lessons, magic is dangerous, use too much, and you run the risk of exhaustion, or if used excessively, death. For now, we will start small."

The old man bent towards the ground under the seat he had procured for himself, rummaging around the ground for a few moments before he brought up a very tiny pebble.

"This is a rock." He said, watching the incredulous Hunter with amused eyes, his own silver brows lifting in amusement towards his look.

"It may not seem like it, but this rock has a name, a name that transcends any that you could give it, a name that gives you complete and utter control over this rock, and any other you could find." He paused once again, making sure the Guardian was still paying attention, before he continued. "Stenr is the True name of this rock, and with it, I control it." He finished, throwing the small pebble towards the Hunter, who caught it whilst examining the rock he had been given.

"Now, hold the stone in your palm, and say these words. Stenr Reisa, do not just say the words and expect something to happen, you must feel deep inside yourself for a power you have never felt before, grab it, pull it closer, and then use it.

Aiden gave a nod, what the old man described seemed exactly how he used his Light, only he couldn't just use that apparently, he had to find some other power hidden within himself, something he had never…

He blinked, before his gaze became intense, searching deep inside himself, finding what he normally did, His very being, his Light, but that wasn't what he wanted, so he looked past that, searching ever deeper into himself until he found exactly what he hoped was still there.

When Vex lady had taken him to this place, she had forcefully pumped his body with a power he had never felt before, filling up every cell with energy, it had felt like he was constantly being burnt by Hive fire, only much much worse.

Whatever that energy was, some of it was still inside him, not the raging inferno that it had been, but enough to tell him that what he felt wasn't a delusion because of the pain he had endured, she had put something in him, and he only found it now that he was looking.

He focused on that energy, trying to grab it like he would his Light, but it eluded him, always moving away from his touch, somehow being protected by something he could not understand, but he was nothing if not determined, he kept at it, constantly seeking out the power he had been given, but each time it got away, causing his irritation to grow.

 _"_ _Why not try grabbing it with your Light?"_ Stitch asked, surprising him and causing him to lose his focus on the energy that he had almost captured.

 _"_ _From what he said, our Light doesn't seem to be compatible, would it be a good idea to do that inside of my body?"_ He asked, brow creased in concentration, because the damn energy kept getting away.

 _"_ _Then don't try it, that stuff is inside you bud, just gotta grab it."_ Stitch said, seemingly finding humor in his Guardians struggle.

He huffed, finding himself somehow exhausted even though he hadn't done anything, and thought on what Stitch had said, it was certainly worth a try.

He gathered Light inside himself, shifting it around until he found the energy that had been eluding him for some time, he focused on it, surrounding it with his Light slowly and cautiously, weary of any negative reaction it could cause, and unaware of the shocked intake of air coming from the outside world.

His Light slowly enclosed on the energy, drawing it towards his palm, which he now noticed was glowing in a small purple light, illuminating his hand in a small glow, but he couldn't focus on that for long, he returned towards the power he had contained, capturing it and bringing it into his very being while saying two words.

"Stenr Reisa"

The stone in his hand didn't slowly rise or start to wobble upwards, it simply flew through the air, going speeds that would make a Jump ship jealous, and disappearing into the air.

The Hunter looked towards a shocked old man, finding his mouth open wide and his eyebrows buried in his silver hair, appearing even more surprised than the Guardian across from him was.

All was silent for a moment, before the old man got up, muttering something along the lines of "I need a nap" before he disappeared behind a sleeping Big Blue.

The Hunter only gave a small shrug before he set his hand into the Solar fire, warming them up before he started petting the purring Io once again.

After a few minutes of silent petting and warming next to the fire, Stitch decided to speak up.

 _"_ _You know you probably just did something impossible for these people, right?"_ Stitch asked, no doubt giving his Hunter a look inside his Inventory.

" _Yep, but I'm not gonna worry about it, I just used friggin magic!"_ He said in his head, giving a cheeky smile to whoever would bother looking, which was no one.

 _"_ _Just wanted to check, hope you enjoy the insane amount of questions, oh and by the way, watch out for the rock."_ He finished, blocking off Io's mental hearing for the next part.

 _"_ _What do you mean watch out for the ro-"_ A loud crack was heard, along with a very loud yell of pain, for a small pebble had fallen from its high altitude to crash into a unaware Hunters arm, denting his armor, waking all of the little campsites occupants, giving the tiny little Ghost a good laugh, and punishing his Hunter for possibly breaking the old man.

Today was certainly going to be a good day for the little Ghost

 ** __** ** _"Traveler damn it you little shithead!"_**

A good day indeed.

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Today had been tiring.

With Brom having taught Eragon about magic and its dangers, Saphira speaking almost constantly inside of his head to Io, and the occasional look towards his precious Bolt caster from the old man who still hadn't been informed of how he pulled it out of nowhere to slay the Urgals earlier, he was about ready to just slump to the ground.

Apparently the monsters had a name, much like the Fallen and Hive.

He was walking again, having taken off his Ahamkara bone wrist guard because the pebble he had magicked into the air had put a massive dent in the metal under the bones, and his arm, meaning it would require him to fix it, or find a place he could say he had them fixed, either one worked.

The only good thing about today was that Io was having a good time riding on his shoulder, and that his beautiful cloak was no longer covered with terrible dirt.

The boy still kept staring at his leg.

 _"_ _You had to expect this to happen, they probably haven't ever seen someone with a metal leg."_ Stitch spoke, making a frown appear on his Hunters face, completely ignoring his Ghost partner.

 _"_ _Are you really going to give me the silent treatment? Stop acting like a Kinderguardian."_ He said once again, still receiving the cold shoulder from his linked friend.

The Guardian focused on Io, speaking aloud so the Little Light didn't get ideas about speaking.

"So Io, find any good animals in the forest lately?" He asked, catching the attention of Big Blue and her little partner.

 _"_ _Yea! I found a mouse, and it was awesome, I haven't had something like that in so long!"_ She chatted excitedly, including the other linked partners into their discussion, Brom had decided to not be included in their talks unless it was important, for some reason.

Aiden found a smile appearing on his mouth, Io had a way of making that happen somehow, but he didn't really mind, it was better than her focusing on the town they had recently left. He shifted his focus over towards the other Rider and dragon, seeing the grins upon their faces also helped to cheer him up a little.

"So Brom, where are we headed next?" The Hunter asked, looking towards the horse riding old man.

Said old man looked at the small little caravan, checking to make sure that everything was well before he responded. "Our next stop will be Daret, it's a small town, but it should contain all that we will need for the journey onward." He finished, looking in the distance to something the young Guardian could not see.

The Guardian nodded, he had no idea where Daret was but he still nodded.

 _"_ _If you can get your hands on a map I might be able to tell you where we are, even though it won't be as accurate as our satellites"_ Stitch said, closing off his voice to Saphira so she didn't think someone was inside the Guardians head.

He remained silent, only giving him a brief burst of understanding through their link to confirm that he had heard, before he once again blocked off contact with his Ghost.

"Hey Brom, do you have a map I can borrow?" He once again spoke, catching the attention of the old hermit and causing him to grumble something along the lines of 'dumb kids', but the Hunter got his map, which is the real victory.

He starred at the map, finding a small little section marked Daret, if this map was accurate, they were possibly only a half day away from their destination after their setback at Yazuac.

" _Got it, we should be there in about fifteen hours, hopefully this won't be dragged out for too long, I have to empty your inventory of all the junk you put in here."_ Stitch said, voice bordering on smug when he felt his Hunter tense up in anger.

" _You touch my collection and ill have Io scratch your favorite shell"_ The Hunter said, adding in a very large burst of seriousness while he glared ahead at nothing to get his point across, but Stitch only gave a laugh and probably a small victory dance.

He really shouldn't have humored the Ghost, the little bugger knew that if he messed with his collection he would end up regretting all his life choices, but then again, he also should know better than to even joke about getting rid of their stuff.

His happy thoughts were once again dragged through the mud, the Guardian was sure his Little Light didn't mean to, but it was still a dick move either way.

Io was of course oblivious, all she knew was that his collection was important to him, and that not even Stitch was to touch it.

He banished those thoughts from his head, they didn't belong in this peaceful setting, besides, they were going to be setting up camp in about nine hours if the group wanted to get some good rest for tomorrows outing.

 _"_ _Aiden, where are we going anyway?"_ Io asked, turning her neck to look into her Hunters eyes.

He thought on that, until now he hadn't really cared where the group was going, he just joined in because the old man seemed to know something about dragons, and there was an older influence for Io to learn from, because neither Stitch or himself knew how to raise an Ahamkara.

" _You would have to ask Brom about that, he seems to be knowledgeable on most subjects, but wait till we set up camp, he looks pretty distracted."_ The Guardian finished, Io noticing that the old man did seem to be rather distracted by something.

Nine hours of nothing but walking wasn't going to tire him much, but it would still be rather boring, if only he could skip ahead to that point…

Wishful thinking.

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He blinked, finding himself in a small campsite with a fire raging near his feet.

He looked around in confusion, finding the sky to be filled with stars and almost all of the camps occupants sleeping.

 _"_ _Stitch… what the hell just happened?"_ He asked quietly, hoping his Ghost had an answer.

 _"_ _What are you talking about? You've been sitting there staring at the fire for twenty minutes man."_ His Ghost said, voice mixing confusion and a small bit of irritation.

 _"_ _Don't tell me you don't know what happened! One minute I'm walking and the next I'm here!"_ He sent back, voice confused and panicky, because the fact that even Stitch didn't feel the change was concerning.

 _"_ _Whatever Aiden, get some sleep, you obviously need it"_ And with that, he cut off their mental conversation, trying his best to keep the confusion and joy from his Hunter.

He had felt the change of course, it was a strange occurrence, but usually his Hunter didn't notice, too busy messing with guns or his ship and on Nessus, it was surprising he noticed the recent time skip, but it was well overdue, if his Hunters concerned mumbling was any indication.

He gave a small laugh, before he went to work on cleaning their inventory, because it was actually filled with junk, like a random bottle that said something about a Cola, and a strange cowboy doll.

What had his Hunter been doing while he was busy?

After finding a used tissue, Stitch decided he REALLY didn't want to know.

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When all of the little groups occupants got their things together and once again set out on their trip to Daret, a small problem made itself known.

"I'm not leaving her"

"We cannot bring her into a town the might be infested with Urgals, it is too dangerous!"

"Nothing will touch her if I'm there."

"Nothing will touch her if she stays with Saphira!"

Both shouting men glared at each other, one holding an unsure purple dragon, and another clutching a wooden stick to keep himself from beating the other.

"You cannot always be there for you dragon boy, it is best you learn that now before it hurts you later." The old man said, eyes narrowing and glaring at the young Hunter, ignoring the concerned looks being sent his way by Eragon and Saphira.

"If you think that I'll leave her alone after what happened at Yazuac then you understand less than I thought." The Guardian said, staring directly into the old man eyes and daring him to challenge him.

All was tense, even Saphira seemed to be concerned that the two forces would clash, not a word was said, only an intense battle of wits to see who would back down first.

While the old man was good, not even he could beat the patience of a Guardian such as him, so with a grumble and what was most assuredly an insult, he left and got on his horse, gesturing for Eragon to do the same while they went towards the town that could slightly be seen in the distance.

Aiden released a sigh, he hadn't honestly been expecting to win that battle, but he supposed his experience with stubborn Warlocks had prepared him for this moment.

Saphira was staring at him with a mixture of admiration and another emotion he couldn't decipher, not that he was actively trying, for he had things that needed to be done while he had a chance to be away from his 'teacher'.

While Brom was certainly excellent at the Ancient language, there were some things that he simply couldn't teach, like the ability to conjure several elements from all the words he had taught the two Dragon riders

Saphira watched him with interest, he had only barely shown her all the he had accomplished with his magic talent, which wasn't much since the old man hadn't given him enough words to learn yet, but he was getting there. He spoke softly, conjuring a floating purple flame above his hand, watching it glow brightly and somewhat illuminate the forest they had moved to.

It really wasn't that difficult, with his experience with Light he had a massive advantage over Eragon, he was used to channeling strange powers through his body, even if this one needed a language to be used it was still similar to how Light operated, except this power could be used for much more then what Light could, the only drawback was that it was much weaker.

Saphira was watching him intently, just as mesmerized as he was by the flame in his hand, flickering in the small amount of wind the forest let in to their clearing.

All was normal for a long while, a dragon anxiously checking her mental connection to Eragon, Io chasing around random butterflies, a handsome Hunter playing with his knives, and Stitch being a dick.

Basically, a normal day.

But like most things in Aiden's life, it got weird.

Everything froze, the knife he had thrown, Io chasing her butterflies, even Saphira and her large frown were suspended in some form of stasis, but the Guardian was more focused on the immense presence he felt appear behind him.

He whirled around, grabbing the knife he had left in midair and bringing it to the neck of a very amused Vex lady.

He blinked, only having a second to be confused before him and his knife were sent flying by a powerful blast of kinetic air, launching into a tree and putting a Hunter shaped indent into it.

"Ohhhooo I'm gonna feel that shit in the morning…" He groaned, finding that his knife was imbedded in the tree next to him, serving as an excellent way for him to shakily stand and glare at the very rude Vex lady.

She giggled, after flinging his precious self into a tree she decided it was cool to giggle.

"You Guardians are always the first to attack, it becomes less amusing after the first few hundredth times." She spoke, her voice still carrying whatever ethereal quality that sent a shiver down his poor hurting spine.

"Usually, ugh" He grunted, pulling a large splinter out of his armor. "When something appears behind you, it also wants to kill you." He finished, throwing away a pebble that had somehow gotten inside his boot.

She rolled her eyes, face holding a smirk that under normal conditions, the Hunter would have found inviting. "I am glad you discovered them so soon, usually it takes my Chosen longer to find their Path." She spoke, glancing in the direction of Big Blue.

Aiden narrowed his eyes, the way she had said Path was different, whatever it was she meant when she said that, it wasn't a normal everyday path that you went gallivant along, he would need to think on that one however, as she was now approaching him.

She was still floating, only now she seemed less physical, although the Hunter was not fooled, Oryx and his shadows weren't physical, but they still almost killed him on multiple occasions.

She stopped before him, looking him up and down and finding nothing of interest, until her piercing gaze landed upon his hand, where his gedway ignasia was, the thing with the oval and a dragon in it that was apparently important to Riders.

"Ah good, I had hoped that you were bonded by now, but it is so hard to get accurate readings inside that dreadful Vault, now, unto the business I originally came here for." And with that, she smacked him upside the head.

He keeled over in pain, clutching his head which had suddenly gained an intense sensation of someone stabbing him repeatedly, only this time there was no Crucible and he was alone with someone who could probably erase him from existence.

The pain was bad, but not as bad as it had been when Vex lady transported him to this planet, but it still wasn't something he would enjoy having happen again, especially since he now felt a small burning in his chest.

"What… What the hell was that?" He asked, looking to the Vex lady and glaring at her with all his pained might.

She smiled again, only this one held actually affection, and the Hunter had no idea what to think of that

"I simply gave you a gift, adding it in with the other gifts I had given would have brought unnecessary pain to your already strained mind, so I waited until you had recovered enough from your ordeal." She finished, watching the struggling hunter attempt to stand with his knife in a tree as a support.

"Well, thanks I guess, still haven't told me why I'm here though." He grunted, holding onto the tree until his dizziness left him and he was able to stand normally, looking at the lady with caution.

"You will need to be better then what you are now if you wish to be able to fight the coming evil, Aiden, what I have given you will even the odds, so to speak."

He narrowed his eyes at her, she seemed to know something that he didn't, and if anything could upset him at all, it was Stitch and someone not revealing that they knew something important.

"What did you give me? I don't really feel any different." He stated, throwing off his suspicions for the moment.

She smiled again, irritating the young Hunter for reasons beyond him, and responded very simply.

"When you need them, the powers will reveal themselves, but not a moment sooner."

He sighed, something he was going to be doing a lot if Vex lady continued her cryptic answers, but he honestly didn't have much of a choice here, whatever she had done had trapped him completely inside her little stasis bubble.

He didn't want to think about the possibility that she literally stopped time.

"Well, thanks for being the new Eris Morn, anything else I need to know?" He asked, cleaning some of the dirt off of his armor from being catapulted into a tree.

"Nothing at the moment, I needed to give you my gift before I left, enjoy the time you have in peace young Aiden, for it will not last." And with that, she was gone, leaving a annoyed Hunter, a butterfly chasing Io, and an oblivious Stitch and Saphira.

He sighed, finding himself once again in the spot he was sitting before Vex lady visited, catching the knife that came very close to stabbing him in his leg.

He looked towards the little bit of sky showing through the trees, contemplating what had been said and what it meant for his future.

Something was coming, and judging by what she had said, he would have a hard time without whatever gifts she had given him, he didn't know how to take that honestly, but he knew something for a fact.

He heard Io give a large laugh, finding Saphira and her playing a small game of tag, with Io winning because she was such a tiny creature in a large forested area.

Whatever was coming, would be no match for a protective Guardian, he would make sure of it.

 _"_ _Aiden, why is there a finger in your inventory?"_ Stitch asked, voice very concerned.

He should probably deal with that before things got awkward.

 **Author note things**

 **Hollydoor: Ha! You think this guy all mighty? Get prepared to be very amused when he continually gets his face beat in by an irate Io, once she gets to size that is.**

 **VGBlackwing: Sunsinger you say, well you may or may not be disappointed in the future… maybe, I honestly have no idea what I'm saying right now. Thanks for the review though!**

 **Robot Sparky: Thanks! Hope you enjoy my next few chapters of terrible Guardian influences!**

 **Xeano: Well, Io is a girl, so I can see why you would voice her as one. As for Ahamkara and their concept art, I choose to discard that stuff, as concept art is just that, art made upon a concept that isn't fully fleshed out, as for her color, who doesn't like purple?**

 **D3rpman1015: Hey thanks! And I hope your story does good, quality Inheritance stories are hard to find in my opinion, so I figured I would take a stab at it.**

 **General ramblings.**

 **This was a fun chapter I think, ignore that time skip thing, it was just something I wanted to do because I honestly had no idea how to make a full day just disappear without putting those little squiggly lines in, and good news! Vex lady is back, and she really likes making our valiant Guardian feel pain.**

 **As for the mysterious powers she gave him, will he be able to figure it out once the time comes? Find out next time on Dragon ba- *Cough* An Ahamkara's Rider!**


	5. A Guardians Guide To Living With Mortals

After Vex lady had left the immediate area and he had explained to Stitch that she made an appearance, and why there was a finger in his inventory, he was honestly tired, whatever she put in him had left him feeling worse for wear, his back hurt, his head hurt, and that tree was hurt from when he smashed into it.

It seemed Saphira agreed, shortly after Vex lady left she began to grow restless, appearing to be ready to abandon the camp at any moment, he would have asked what was wrong, but he was too busy trying to keep an eye on Io and make sure there was nothing else in his inventory that would raise questions.

Shortly after the young Guardian had successfully cleaned out almost anything that would cause dark hallucinations or cause irreparable madness, Brom and Eragon made their appearance, and Saphira took this moment to get right up close to a surprised Eragon.

Things only got more interesting when she swept the poor kids legs out from under him and pinned him with her very large and sharp talons.

Aiden blinked, looking towards the feuding pair in confusion and mirth, he had no idea about the topic of discussion because they had closed off their thoughts to the outside, but judging by the flinching boy being held down, he was glad to be left out of that one.

While the two humans spoke of riding and saddles, the Hunter tuned them out, instead grabbing his gleaming Bolt caster from his back, and began walking to a more secluded spot, a curious Io following in his footstep.

Once he got a far enough distance from the others, he held Bolt caster in the air, shifting his body into a stance that he held for several seconds, eyes closed in deep concentration.

Io sat back, watching her Hunter with a look of understanding, when she was still in the bones on his armor, he had done this multiple times.

All was quiet, until the Guardians sword suddenly moved, slicing in an upwards arch and ending the life of an imaginary enemy, but his blade did not stay still for long, moving all around him, going fast enough that the Arc energy on the blade had a hard time keeping up.

His blade was moving through the air with a grace only a practiced swordsman could produce, his arms and legs fluidly moving to where they needed to be for his sword to continue, his eyes closed in deep concentration while he moved back and forth between his imaginary foes.

It continued like this for a long while, Io sitting back and watching something she had only been able to see through her Hunters eyes, an even then it had not looked as fluid and awe inspiring as it did now.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the shuffling of branches and the crinkling of leaves, looking back towards the forest and seeing a familiar figure approaching, trying to be quiet in their approach.

Brom walked into the clearing with a look of astonishment in his eyes, watching the distracted Guardian with equal parts confusion and wonder, seemingly impressed with the way he was moving with the heavy blade he held.

He slowly walked over towards Io, sitting himself down and watching her Hunter with practiced eyes, trying to determine any flaws or holes in his nearly flawless movements.

Io allowed a smirk to appear on her face, she had seen that look on many Guardians faces when they saw her Hunter fight, he was not perfect, but when being trained by Lord Saladin, he was the closest Guardian you could find.

It was like that for a long time, the oblivious Guardian being watched by two observers, the only thing on his mind being practicing his sword skills, only after decapitating his last foe did he open his eyes, finally seeing the two blips on his radar.

He turned, looking at a smiling Io and an impressed looking Brom, both beginning to get stand after his performance ended.

"You should have told me I had company Io, I would have brought out some snacks." Aiden joked, rubbing the young Ahamkara's head softly, a purr sounding noise escaping her throat.

 _"_ _I didn't want to disturb you, not after what happened last time."_ She said, giving a small giggle when her Hunter flinched back for a moment.

 _"_ _Io, I told you never to mention what happened with Ikora again, remember?"_ He asked, voice deceptively calm for the very intense look in his eyes.

Io only laughed once again, and left to get to the camp, tail swishing in amusement.

"Kids these days huh?" The Hunter said, directing his question to the old man standing next to him.

"Indeed."

All was silent for a long while, so Aiden decided to fill that silence by grabbing a nearby rock and sliding it across the edge of his Arc sword.

If it was the Hunters choice, that silence would have stayed eternal, but Brom obviously had questions, questions that he would probably want answered right now.

"Might I ask where you got such a magnificent blade?" He spoke, staring at the aforementioned blade with a curious eye.

Aiden stopped his sharpening of Bolt caster, even though the blade never dulled, and thought on what to tell the man.

 _"_ _Just tell him the bare minimum, that you and a friend built it, it won't explain where you pulled it from, but it should hold him off."_ Stitch spoke, sounding bored and not at all concerned.

Couldn't argue with that logic.

"Me and a friend made it, took us a long time, but it was worth it for the finished product." Aiden shrugged, putting his blade back in its rightful place on his back, careful to avoid stabbing his cloak on accident.

Brom furrowed his brow, his eyes were once again gaining that spark of curiosity that always seemed to come out when the Hunter was involved, with how many secretes he held, it was no wonder the old storyteller was intrigued.

"You are a strange boy, Aiden." He said after a moment of silence, setting himself down next to the Hunter, who was gazing at him in a small amount of confusion and apprehension.

"You have many secretes, you only give us the smallest amount of information that you can, I would be utterly annoyed if I had not the experience to realize that everyone has secretes, some more dark then others." He said, his voice which was usually full of a firmness that reminded Aiden of Shaxx and his never ending confidence was now low and wistful, as though he was remembering something.

Aiden nodded, his gaze landing on his Vex leg, memories being brought to the surface of his mind unbidden.

 _Screams. Darkness. White hot agony as he felt the pain of losing a part of himself. Staring into the eyes of a machine God._

He shook his head, clearing his mind and looking towards his traveling companion who was looking at him strangely. The stare was focused around his face, so he reached up to see if anything had happened while he was down memory lane, and found a small bit of liquid traveling down his cheek.

He pulled his finger away, looking at the little piece of water that had been on him in confusion, he was stumped, it wasn't raining in this very enclosed clearing, so how had water gotten on his face?

He shook himself out of his confusion, it was almost time for them to leave, and he was getting distracted by a bit of water, although Brom was still looking at him strangely, which was slightly bothering, but he could certainly deal with it.

So he helped the old man up, grabbing his hand and carefully bringing him to his feet, and proceeded to walk out of the small clearing they were in.

When they finally got back to Eragon, Saphira, and Io, they found quite the strange sight.

Eragon was dangling off of Saphira, foot held in a strap that he was struggling to reach, with Saphira's wings covered in branches and random patches of dirt, she was busy attempting to shake herself of both the leaves and Eragon, all while Io sat in the corner laughing her scales off.

Both story teller and Hunter were silent, before the later burst into a fit of laughter, clutching his sides and falling to the floor, alerting the struggling partners that they had more company then just the young purple dragon.

The Dragon and Rider pair both looked embarrassed, trying to free themselves out of the hilarious situation they had been found in even more, while Brom, someone who Aiden had only seen crack a smile a few times joined him in a low laugh.

But of course, all good things must come to an end, as Eragon found out when he landed face first on the ground after getting his foot unstuck.

It was a golden moment for the Guardian, he could even feel Stitch perk up in amusement at the situation that had just unfolded, it was a shame he couldn't watch it happen again.

 _"_ _You know I can record what you see, right?"_ Stitch asked, shifting data around and showing his Guardian the footage of Eragon falling on repeat.

Well then.

Aiden gave his best impression of a troll face, rubbing his hands together and smiling towards Io, who at some point must have felt his malicious powers emanating from his mind, and judging by the dull look he was receiving, she did not enjoy it.

 _"_ _I know what you're thinking."_ She stated, giving her Hunter a flat stare. _"And I do not approve."_ She finished.

Aiden sighed and snapped his fingers disappointedly, he was really looking forward to using that video against the poor Rider, oh well.

Instead he went and started packing the little amount of gear he had out of his inventory, his borrowed sleeping rag, Bolt caster, and last but not least, the small clothe that concealed Fatebringer.

Was carrying it a bad idea? Possibly, but after having it at his side for years on end, he could be excused for wanting to have the familiar weight on his thigh.

Even though Io and Stitch both agreed that he was going to accidentally shoot himself one day. Again.

Aiden dismissed them as being crazy fools and went back to preparing.

With all his gear loaded on or around his body, he went over to see how Eragon and Brom were handling their luggage, and to see if he could try and tickle Saphira with a few floating rocks again, the looks she had given him were priceless.

As he expected, both were ready to go, Eragon with a slightly flushed face, Brom with an eyebrow raised in amusement, and Saphira with a content smile on her snout, so he probably shouldn't bother her, lest she attempt to bite his comparatively tiny body.

 _"_ _You know, we haven't asked them where we are going yet."_ Io said from her place in the sun, seeming content to lay there as everyone else got ready.

 _"_ _Yea, but where's the fun in knowing? Half of my adventures were because I had no clue what I was doing, and look how that turned out!"_ Aiden exclaimed brightly, waving his hands around and pointing in no general direction.

 _"_ _Most of our adventures end with thousands of our enemies slaughtered and you complaining about a lack of ammo."_ Stitch helpfully pointed out while searching through said ammo, making sure none had leaked out upon his Hunters brief spar with Bolt caster.

You wouldn't think a super computer could lose track of things, but his Hunter had a way of messing up any kind of organization the little golf ball had.

 _"_ _I complain because you don't get me more fast enough."_ The Hunter replied back, starting to scout the fields ahead in case anything was to close for comfort

Stitch bristled in his little pocket dimension, losing focus on ammo count and instead shifting his angry thoughts towards his Hunter.

 _"_ _Do you know how hard it is to transmat fallen materials and then change them to ammo? Of course it takes so long for me to complete a very complex process!"_ He harshly said, glaring at his Guardian even though he couldn't see him inside the inventory

 _"_ _Hey, I'm just saying, you could at least try to be urgent about it."_ Aiden said casually, smirking at Stitch and his obvious reaction to someone questioning his skills, he almost made it too easy sometimes.

 _ **Destruction looms.**_

Both Stitch and Io suddenly froze when the ominous voice had spoken, minds not comprehending how something had been able to infiltrate their defenses without alerting any of them, the worst off was Aiden, who had completely stopped in shock, hand reaching dangerously close to Fatebringer as though he could shoot the voice.

 _"_ _Stitch, check the link! Io, close your mind now!"_ He shouted in his head, desperately searching his mind for anything that could be an intruder, whatever it was had clearly been heard by all three of them, but it shouldn't have been able to get inside their heads like that.

Everything had quieted, Eragon and Brom were watching the Hunter with his narrowed eyes, and the young purple dragon who was searching the area with what looked like urgency, the most concerning part was that both had their mental defenses up far past what would be casual, something was happening.

"Aiden, are you alright?" Eragon asked in concern, holding himself back from approaching the fidgety man, less he use whatever magic that had burned the Urgals on him, Eragon doubted it would come to that, but with the other boy's stance, he appeared ready for a fight.

Aiden did not respond for a long time, eyes searching for something neither Eragon or Brom could see, before he finally relaxed his stance, turning around and grabbing his pack as though nothing had happened, maybe nothing had to him.

Eragon shot Brom a look, they both had the same thought, whatever that was could not have been normal, but neither wanted to confront the boy on whatever had accrued.

They only hoped he would tell them if it was dangerous.

Before they went outwards into the plains, they gave one last look towards their temporary camp, most looked back with a smile, while some shot it a suspicious glance, for they suddenly had the feeling they were no longer alone on their journey.

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Not long after they had left the camp, Brom had found something that definitely bared investigation.

Large tracks were in the dirt, digging into the ground and revealing a very concerning problem.

"Is it just me, or do those look like Saphira's footprints?" Aiden said quietly, equally as disturbed as Brom appeared to be, from what they both had gathered, Saphira and Io were the only dragons out of four eggs to hatch, even if Io didn't technically hatch.

Technicalities didn't really matter right now.

"Yes, they match disturbingly well, but they cannot possibly have dragons, none would serve those vile monsters." He said quietly, his brow lowering in such a way that Aiden could see he was busy thinking.

Aiden only shrugged, he knew basic information on who the old story teller was speaking of, Ra'zac, a supposedly evil race that prayed on Dragon riders or some such nonsense, the only thing he really knew was that they were targeting anyone who had a dragon, and he wasn't about to let them anywhere near Io.

Eragon distracted the both of them with a shout, not one of fear or danger, but of excitement, both Aiden and Brom have the other a look, before walking towards where Eragon was holding a shiny flask with a strange symbol on it, from the looks of things he was pretty excited about it.

"Look what I found!" He said, giving the flask that felt suspiciously like it harbored Darkness inside it to Brom, who only gave it a small smell before he jerked his head back very quickly.

Aiden breathed in deeply for a moment, before he opened his eyes and truly gazed upon the shiny flask.

One of the hardest parts of being a Hunter was the fact that any shot you missed, any slight hesitation could lead to your death, whether in the Crucible or in the darkest pits of the Sol system, so over the years, every Hunter had developed their skills, some were common and easy to find, while others were much more rare.

The ability he was using was a gift that Io had taught him, she had a much more stable connection to the Void then he ever could, and when she became included in their link, she taught them how to do what she called 'Truly seeing'.

His eyes flashed purple for a moment, reaching into the Void and bringing with him a small bit of the infinitely dangerous power into his eyes, gazing at the bottle with a new outlook.

It was reeking of Darkness, but whatever the Ra'zac had done was concealing it from his normal senses of feeling his enemies power, meaning he was only able to get a steady lead on it when he was right on top of it, but he could see it now, and it was repulsing.

He blinked once again to get the burning pressure out of his eyes, looking around and finding that two of his newer companions were chatting excitably about shipping records and how they might be able to track some kind of pearl shiner.

Mortals were weird.

 _"_ _Stitch, any idea why I couldn't sense the thing?"_ Aiden asked, referencing the silver flask that Brom had discretely put into his satchel before mounting his horse again.

 _"_ _No idea, although there was a small increase in this planets ambient energy around the area, but wherever we are has a large amount of those fluctuations, so I didn't even notice it until now."_ Stitch explained, voice irate at having not found the small flask.

 _"_ _Eh don't sweat it bud, even I couldn't feel it, you shouldn't feel too bad."_ Aiden said in an attempt to console his upset partner, but he only got a small snort out of the golfball and a small feeling of 'I can't believe I deal with this crap', but he took that as a step up from 'shut up you stupid organic'.

Anyway, Eragon and Brom were both ready, while Saphira was already gliding high up in the sky, appearing as a small little bird from this distance, so he decided to stop chatting with his irritated Ghost and instead get ready for a long run, because according to Stitch and his map, they had a long road to travel till they got to Teirm.

The Guardian couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive though, because usually whenever he got near water, bad things happened, and he had that same feeling of foreboding in his gut that this trip would end just the same as all the others.

Stitch and Io agreed before they all set off to their new destination.

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Teirm was quite beautiful actually.

It was quite low tech compared to other places, but it was a good feeling to see a city such as this, filled with human life of all kinds, places like it couldn't simply exist in his home system, any town that looked like this on Earth would have been absolutely destroyed by the numerous forces that inhabited their world.

The place was covered in a very strategic build style, everything was made to help the defenders hold off incoming attackers, or it at least appeared that way to Stitch and Aiden as they looked towards the large walls near the city entrence, it also didn't help that while the city was beautiful, many houses were run down and people looked ready for war, random swords and expertly hidden knives alerted the Hunter that the citizens wouldn't back down from some mangy pirates.

It still didn't help his gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, but it helped.

Sadly, Io and Saphira had to be left behind, they were simply getting to big to be anywhere near the city, and even though Io was had only grown up to his knees, Saphira was about the size of a small dropship at this point, which meant that he was constantly linked with both of them so that if anything happened, he could transmat himself to the small beacon that was in his emergency bag.

Hunters always prepared for the worst case.

So he were simply walking, although many things had happened on the road, such as both Riders being trained more excessively in magic and training for mage battles and random trivia on the land, they also had to be more careful, all of them had to keep their preferred names on lockdown until they met someone named Jeod who could lead them to the Ra'zac. And, it was decided that his armor would have to go, it looked very expensive and Brom pointed out that they could not afford to get in trouble with anyone who wanted to take it from him.

He begrudgingly agreed.

Aiden, or Bardon as his friends had called him, was busy taking in the sights, Teirm was really a beautiful place, and after having Stitch transmat a few gold purses from random rich people into his pack, he was feeling like doing some shopping.

Eragon and Brom had decided to bugger off somewhere, leaving the Hunter to simply enjoy the sights, smell the limited food they had, and look around at the interesting shops, although one specific one caught his eye more than the others, it felt as though something was calling him to it in fact…

It was cluttered, filled with random things that must have held some significance to whoever owned the shop, it almost reminded him of his outpost in the Plague lands, filled with all the things he had collected over the years, that was a much simpler time, when he still had a real home to go to.

He shook his head when he finally noticed the fairly large bird staring at him, which should have been more obvious than some of the other things, such as the crystal ball and a large pot in the middle of the shop with a small yellow flower.

Scrolls, painting, even some small machines rested all over the floor, and just before the Hunter had a chance to call out for the shop owner, a particularly large cat met his gaze, its red eyes staring at him with an intensity that could not possibly belong to a normal pet, and if that didn't tip him off, the fact that it was trying to read his thoughts certainly did.

He lashed out at the creature, not trying to force his way into its mind, but to warn the creature that he was not to be messed with.

His attempt was met with limited success.

The thing simply extended its claws and pounces on the surprised Hunter, causing him to fall on some of the shops clutter, and try and fight of the very strong cat from clawing into his chest.

This went on for several minutes, the cat simply swiping at the down human, while he tried his best to wrestle the beasts massive strength away from any delicate parts of his body, but both gave a small start as they saw a very upset woman glaring at them as she held a small frying pan, which had a frog in it for some reason.

 _"_ _It's actually a toad."_ Stitch unhelpfully pointed out as he simply sat and watched his Hunter become a cat toy.

 _"_ _Shut up Stitch"_ Aiden grumbled in his head, throwing the now still cat on the ground as he got up and wiped the stray pieces of cloth from his nearly ruined shirt, and glared at the thing when he found a massive tear in his cloak that the little monster had someone gotten a hold of.

"Now what did I just stumble in on?" Asked the woman with the toad inhabited frying pan, who was tapping her foot and not bothering to look towards the cat that trotted towards the counter looking as smug as Cayde when they had put a transmat beacon on the Dreadnaught.

"Your cat tried to tenderize me, that's what." He said, switching his gaze between the damn cat monster and the girl who was smirking a little bit, which was totally not cool, or at least he thought so.

"Im sure Solembum didn't mean it, did you my little Bum?" The girl asked her little hell cat, who gaze a friggin nod and stuck its tongue out at him.

The Guardian had fought many beasts and monsters over the years, giant Ogres, near invincible Thrall, hell, he had even fought some Guardians in an all out three week brawl, but on this day, when that cat, no, that _thing_ had torn his cloak, it had become a very loathed being, but when it embarrassed him and taunted him?! The monster had just made itself the top of his shit list.

He got up very fast, shifting his weight and putting his fists up in a faux fighting style, glaring at the smirking Thing with hateful eyes.

"You wanna go ya little shit? Come at me, I can take yah." He stated confidently, eyeing only the cat and not the giggling woman, because no matter what happened, the Thing would not get away with his dignity, not on this day!

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The shop was a battleground, items littered the floor, broken glass was sitting on the floor haphazardly, and a curly headed herbalist sat nearby, laughing up a storm as she saw two mighty titens battle it out, uncaring for the damage that was done, or the torn up Hunter breathing deep gulps of air as he was held in place by a victorious looking cat.

That was the situation that Eragon found himself in, staring with one foot inside the shop as he stared at the carnage around him, torn clothes, clumps of fur, and a cloak hung from the ceiling, dangling with multiple tears that ruined the gold thread wolf in the middle.

"I will… come back later." He said slowly, walking back out the door as fast as he could while mumbling something about crazy fools.

Aiden only took in all the air that he could, he had Stitch stop the flow of Light to his lungs so that he could keep up the act of being normal, but even then he had not expected the cat monster to take this much out of him, it almost hurt his pride more than his mutilated cloak, which had become a small trophy kill of their long and terrible war.

"Im… way too old for this crap…" He panted, dropping his head to the floor as he saw the bubbly girl come up and give him an encouraging smile, before she gave him her hand to help him up, which he gladly took.

Once he was up and standing again, the small herbalist gave him a large smile before she started laughing at him again.

"I have never seen such a ferocious battle, you're quite the warrior to have lasted so long, might I ask who has graced me with their presence?" She asked, giving him a small pat on the back as she led him to the seat she had previously occupied while she set him down in it.

"Bardon, traveling with my cousin and his uncle, if I would have known a cat would find victory over me I would not have come." He said dejectedly, looking at the smirking Thing with venom in his eyes and soul.

"He grows on you, but before I begin, its best to introduce myself." She paused for a bit, before she quickly tried to sneak over to her head sized crystal ball.

"Angela the Herbalist!" she shouted, picking up Thing and hugging him in a vice like grip.

Aiden sighed, before he simply laid his head back and closed his eyes, cursing whatever deity, or Vex lady, for giving him the burden of another Stitch like personality.

He didn't acknowledge the small jolt of electricity he felt as his hand glanced a small wooden rod.

Or Stitch calling him a massive male private part.

Screw Teirm.

 **Authors notes, and stuff.**

 **Exillion: There are many reasons as to why I chose a Hunter, so many that this story would suddenly have a few thousand extra words, but the one that matters most is this, I chose one, and it made sense to me, I enjoy Hunters and that's how it goes. Thanks for the review**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Thanks Sir Potato, I really appreciate you saying that, makes me feel all tingly inside.**

 **KrimsonShadow: Hey, this is actually something I'm worrying about, even though you know nothing about Destiny, is my explaining skills allowing you to somewhat grasp what my Hunter can do and the things he says? Because I'm trying to explain things to others who don't know, but I miss a lot because I'm an assuming turd.**

 **Midnight Ruins: Uh… Thanks?**

 **ArchAngel319: Thanks Arch, what's the point in writing if you don't have fun?**

 **Darkrising32: Yea, I rarely find any kind of Destiny fic that hasn't been either totally plot holled, or completely dumped, although the rare ones I do find are golden.**

 **Hollydoor: Well after slaying a few gods, he totally deserves to be cocky, although trying to stab someone that appears behind you is a pretty important reaction in the Guardian world. And what finger do you mean?**

 **** **General ramblings.**

 **SCHOOOOOOOL!**

 **That's about it, expect less frequent updates, I try, but I'm no superman, so bear with me please**

 **As always, have a good day, enjoy the weather, and don't do drugs, otherwise Guardians will bear down on you with Immortal Pear Pressure. (IPP)**


	6. A Challenge Worthy Of A Guardian

Living in a world filled with death and destruction was difficult, every day was a fight to survive and protect those you served, few Guardians had things they would die for, not just Humanity or the Last City, but people and ideas that they would give their last life to protect.

A shame, is it not?

No Guardian that blindly served the Vanguard knew what they were protecting, some just wanted to fight, to kill, and live off their second life with some measure of control.

Fools, all of them.

Aiden was different, he not only had someone to die for, but he also had the power to destroy gods, and in some cases, obliterate worlds, he was a special case, out of all the infinite realities out there, only one in a few hundred trillion ever created such a hero, or, if the cards of Fate twisted enough, a villain.

Being Chosen was not a gift or a curse as she had made it seem, it was a way to monitor him, to try grow the power that threatened everything 'they' had spent countless cycles trying to preserve, all Chosen instinctively sought her kind out, they were true Gods of course, it was natural for them to find the biggest power in their reality, even if they did not yet know that.

When he had stumbled into her Vault, she had of course been dismissive, many had found her Key, all had died trying to survive the madness that the Vex represented, the machines were perfect for her to exploit and use to ward off those that could not be allowed to see even a glimpse of her power.

He walked through them with no difficulty.

Originally it had infuriated her, no one should have been able to simply bypass security that took trillions of years to create, but Chosen always had the ability to destroy logic, and again, they could not comprehend their true power, so it was only in isolated cases that they manifested.

She calmed herself, and decided to finally do the task she had been born and trained to accomplish.

Isolate the Chosen, and protect them.

Her father had been a Chosen, he could do so much more than she ever could, Vex were difficult for her to understand and control, but her father was a master of it, before the Vex could do what many other Artificial did and ascend to Godhood, her father had swept them down, without his intervention, Humanity's first contact with the Vex would have gone a lot less… smother.

She knew the potential of Chosen, and if you could successfully Ascend one that was loyal to you…

There was nothing that you could not do.

She would have her victory, he was certainly worthy of it, but before that, she would see how he fares when all hope is lost. When everything he loves and cherishes is ripped from his hands.

She did not want it of course, but one thing her kind could not do was try and influence Fate, even if it was tempting to do so.

Just because Fate could not affect her Chosen, that did not mean it could not bring him to the edge of his hope.

She only hoped he could survive the storm that was raging towards him at this very moment.

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That damn cat was pure evil.

It only stared at him as he tried his best to clean up the mess from their little scuffle, even worse, the Thing had ripped the cloth that covered his Vex leg and having to explain that to anyone very seriously grated on his nerves, thankfully, Angela did not make too much of a fuss about it before she gave him a broom.

Cleaning was not a Guardians favorite task.

 _"_ _Well maybe you shouldn't have fought a Werecat."_ Io spoke irritably, just as upset about not coming with their group as he was.

 _"_ _Io, you're so adorable."_ He said seriously, only giving a small smirk that she definitely couldn't see.

She only huffed and blocked him out, but he could still feel Saphira, and that was enough for him to deal with.

"You have someone speaking to you." Angela's voice suddenly called out, and Aiden gave a small jump.

"Rather easy to tell, the way you occasionally glance in a different direction and secure your mind, most people with the skill have very easy tells, although yours a much harder to spot." She said, staring rather nonchalantly towards him

Aiden looked towards the strange herbalist before he gave a small shrug, saying no outright would not help, she had already made several comments about how good of a people reader she was, and with the fact that those Werecats were only known to travel with those who were special and interesting, he had no doubt she could read him like a book.

"Hmm, you aren't imperial, that's for sure, but you also aren't with the Varden, they don't fight Werecats, although if they did…" She trailed off, coming back into the main shop as she was busy chewing on a small quill that had a bit of dried ink on it.

She quickly bounced back however.

"So, who is it?" She asked while giving him a very misleading smile.

No one could possibly look that innocent.

"Well you see, I have two voices inside my head, and about several thousand leagues to the west, I have a dragon that is speaking to me through telepathy." He said nonchalantly, still sweeping even though he could definitely feel the eyes suddenly drilling into his head.

Stitch was also there.

 _"_ _What are you doing?! She might well be a spy for the Empire you idiot!"_ Stitch shouted in what could definitely not be called mild anger.

 _"_ _Lying would get me nowhere, avoiding the answer would make her suspicious, and if she is a devious master spy, I will eat my cloak."_ He finished up, looking over at the somewhat serious Angela now.

"Well then, that's certainly a large claim, anything to back it up?" She asked neutrally, she didn't seem to think he was a nut job, so that was always a plus.

He only pulled out his little hand print with the dragon on it, discarding his glove because the leather had obviously seen better days, he glared at the cat Thing after that one.

Why was he doing this? Something about this woman gave him a small measure of confidence, she was familiar, almost like Holiday, and sadly Stitch was in there somewhere, but it was mainly Amanda, and he trusted the ship caretaker with his life.

Stitch understood that somewhat, not the part about trusting a random stranger, but he still felt that revealing such a thing was stupid, compulsive, and really stupid.

The girl took it well, as in she gave him a small grin before pointing to her cat and shouting.

"I told you!" She yelled, giving Aiden a small scare as he saw her sudden movement, and hastily put away the knife that had 'fallen' from his tunic.

"You said that there was no more Dragon Riders, now guess who gets a backscratch? You do you little bugger!" Angela shouted once again, before she somehow switched herself into a completely different attitude and gave Aiden a big and calm thumbs up.

 _" …_ _Stitch I screwed up."_ Aiden said slowly, trying to ignore the massive wave of satisfaction his Ghost sent down the link.

While Angela was busy scratching the somewhat reluctant cat

"Now, what is a legendary Rider doing in a town such as this?" She asked after her initial burst of sudden hyperactivity had finished.

"Shipping records, believe it or not, I'm tracking down some very dangerous foes with my cousin, hopefully we can find them before they cause more harm." He said quietly, he was silently having Stitch scan around to make sure no one else could be listening, he did not need another Cayde situation

Stitch unhelpfully pointed out others might think more than just whispering was happening inside.

He smacked the side of his head quite hard after that one, the dirty sinner didn't get to make such jokes anymore, not after Zavala found his dirty dirty fanfiction.

It brought a shiver to his spine, and he felt his Ghost do the same, even though he had no spine.

Funny how that works.

He shook his thoughts clear again, because screw Stitch, and Angela was giving him looks now.

"So anyway, hunting some people down, hopefully we can get out before whatever my gut is feeling decides to finally start something, but until then, mind keeping the Dragon Rider thing a secret? Wouldn't help having my identity known and something something." Aiden spoke, glancing around the room to find no other miscellaneous broken glass on the floor.

"Of course, wouldn't want the Empire to wonder why a secret Varden supporter was speaking nonsense about Dragons now would we?" She spoke with a voice that was asking for him to look at her rather sharply.

Aiden had… heard of the Varden. Or at least Stitch had through multiple accounts of random people.

They were a rebel group, fighting to get rid on the 'Mad King' by any means, they were small, comparatively, but they were still a threat to the King, and if something were to happen, to Io and himself.

Stitch snorted of course, but even he knew it was a possibility.

The Varden were very weak, very few people supported them, so as soon as Stitch learned of the amazing importance of Dragon Riders, he knew that they would try to use both pair of Riders for their own benefit, and if Aiden had any say, they wouldn't lay a single finger on the poor boy.

Aiden knew all too well about politics, his days in the Vanguard were very benefitting, if you counted hours of constant screaming between the four major factions vying for Guardian control benefitting.

Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, New Monarchy, and the Vanguard all wanted as much Guardians as they could, because if the immortal beings that kept the city alive and well supported you, then not many things would be able to stop them.

They all wanted Humanity to survive, but each way was to be done differently, hence why they fought so hard to 'claim' any new Guardians that showed up in the tower.

It only became worse once the City fell

He would not let the Varden claim Eragon.

"Well, the Varden eh? I wonder what they would have an agent here for?" He asked slowly, sitting upon a slightly torn couch to at least try to be diplomatic about it.

Angela laughed a short laugh, filled with mirth and a small bit of remembrance.

"They wish I was their agent, I don't like the King any more than they do, but unless they gain some form of advantage, why bother being subject to all their rules? Besides, between you and me, that stuffy cave in the mountains smells of Dwarf." She finished with a small laugh at Aiden's confused face, not bothering to explain her mentioning of Dwarves.

 _"_ _Stitch…"_

 _"_ _Don't you dare say it."_

 _"_ _Stiiiiitch…"_

 _"_ _Aiden, I will color your armor pink for the rest of our days here"_

 _"_ _Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch…"_

 _"_ _Don't test me Aiden…"_

 _"_ _No need to be so… short with me, Stitch"_

The next several minutes were filled with panicked begging as Angela found the Hunter being bombarded with several dozens of rocks.

For the first time in a long time, Angela found herself confused.

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Thunk

"Ow"

Another rock hit him from nowhere

Thunk

"Ow"

Thunk

"Will you cut it-Ow!"

The barrage of rocks ended with the last transmatted directly at his eye, hurting the Guardian much more than the other ones had, because they had only hit his head.

 _"_ _You deserve every single bit of this."_

 _"_ _What happened to staying discreet?"_

 _"_ _That flew out the window when you said you were a Rider"_

 _"_ _Technically I'm not a full Rider ye-ow!"_

After confirming that Stitch was no longer going to be a massive dick, Aiden turned his attention fully towards Angela

Angela was of course, very confused, but she held it down well, only flashing to her usual bubbly and mysterious self.

"So, what are you going to do after the hunt is over Bardon? Whoever they are, I can't imagine what they could have done to earn the wrath of a Rider." Angela spoke as she set some of her items aside so Solembum could stretch out more, her implied question flying over the Hunters head.

"I… haven't the slightest." He said with a large amount of uncertainty, after all that he had done, everything he had seen, what would he do when a peaceful life was presented to him?

When he started this little journey, he meant to keep his promise of retiring for a bit, but what kind of rotten luck could he have that would set his path with that of one who was seemingly destined to face a long living magic king?

He ignored Stitch and his sarcastic comments, because if he had not said so already, screw Stitch

He didn't really know what he was going to do, maybe find this evil king and finish him off before Eragon and Saphira were dragged in.

He knew it was foolish, whenever he was concerned, something bad would happen, it was his curse.

He just did not want to drag both of them down to the hell he would inevitably face.

"I will travel, do what I can to live my life and let my Dragon have a good one as well." He finished, standing up after his statement, because after all the work that had been done, it was now nearing the end of night.

"It is late, I must be off Angela, I hope we can try and meet each other again sometime soon." He said, covering his mouth and yawning into his hand to give the illusion that he was tired.

"Understandable, watch out for the guards however, they get quite… frisky at night." And with that word of warning, she left, picking up her cat that weighed far more than it should, and retreated into the back of her little cave.

He left then, slowly closing the door behind him as he headed into the chilly night, Eragon and Brom must have known where he was, but he honestly could not be bothered to find them at the moment, it was a peaceful night and he wanted to at least attempt to spend it with his favorite Ahamkara.

The relative silence of the night was peaceful, even in the Last City, finding a quiet area like this was near impossible, a few billion people could make the area quite restless, and even late at night they still found ways to keep up.

Peace was well and good, but as Aiden knew, everything peaceful must be disturbed, and the quiet of the night was indeed disturbed by a small, barely heard thud of someone landing nearby.

Aiden did not tense right away, any number of creatures could be skulking around in this dark night, so at first, he was not overly worried.

Until he felt the pressure of Darkness surrounding his Light.

He whipped around, facing towards the area he could feel the presence, following him and trying to get a small taste of his Light, whatever the presence was, it was curious, not attacking, but watching him and testing the power he held.

Before Aiden could attempt and give the Darkness user a large taste of a Golden gun to the face, a dark form exploded into motion, going further into the streets and staying to the shadows, the only thing the tense Guardian could see before the Darkness had hit them was a small flash of long blood red hair.

He was still tense for several minutes, the Darkness in the area had dropped to a less noticeable level, what he had felt earlier was not threatening to normal humans, but he would not test to see if whoever that was would be a threat.

He knew they were, so they had to die.

But first, he needed to get to Io, not even Saphira would be able to stop something that fast from hurting Io, rules be damned, he was going outside the wall.

It did not take him long, charging his body with Arc energy once he was in a more secluded spot let him cover the large distance towards the wall, and with a small bit on Void power, he cloaked himself and make his way towards the place Io was sleeping, seeing her and a large bundle of Light inside his Void eye which indicated Saphira.

He climbed the measly natural wall and peaked over, checking all angles with his Eye and making sure that nothing was hiding within.

Nothing, yet for some reason, he could not relax, could not help but focus on memory of the slim figure that had gone fast, fast enough to be considered enhanced human, but that was impossible, nothing here could sustain that level of speed without tearing up their insides.

Io twitched, causing him to move his steely gaze towards her, finally noticing the unpleasant expression on her face, and the occasional jerk of her tail.

 _"_ _It looks like she's having a nightmare…"_ Stitch replied quietly

Aiden sighed, he did not enjoy seeing her like that, so he slowly crawled over towards Io and laid his uncovered hand upon her chest, where her spikes were just starting to grow.

 _"_ _It's amazing all we take for granted."_ He spoke quietly, simply sitting there and staring as Io slowly started to stop squirming, and start to hum and purr.

 _"_ _Why do I always forget what we lost Stitch? Why must I always forget what they did for us?"_ Aiden questioned, his voice going dull and numb, completely different from his usual joyful attitude.

Stitch was silent, he knew from experience that no matter what he said his Guardian would still have the feelings, still remember how much they had failed in their duty.

Stitch almost laughed then and there, most humans simply thought of Guardians as gods, warriors who never ended and valiantly sacrificed themselves for the good of the City, no one thought of the people behind the legend, of the mortal minds inside.

 _"_ _You focus so much on what you have left, you give yourself so little time to remember what you lost."_ Stitch said, materializing next to his partner and resting his shell on the Guardians shoulder, causing a small smile to appear on the man's face.

But Aiden still sighed, before he rested his head down on the ground and starred at the brilliant sky above, filled to the brim with unfamiliar stars and constellations.

"Your right I suppose, even if it pains me to say it." The Hunter said with a laugh, bumping a fist into his floating Ghost, who only rolled his eye before he transmatted into their inventory.

 _"_ _You know I'm always right, now get to sleep, Io won't be happy if she learns you stayed up all night talking."_

 _"_ _I guess, have a good whatever you do Stitch."_ He gave a brief gesture and a small cough, before he settled in for a long sleep.

Before long, Stitch found his Guardian asleep, and with a small shrug, he went back to playing Virtual Jenga, unaware of his Hunter's fitful sleep.

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 _He woke with a start, armor burnt and missing in some places, the only indication he was alive being the beating in his chest and the blood pouring down his face, somewhat distantly, he recognized the sound of Cabal munitions being spent, along with many, many screams._

 _He reached his arm forward, trying to grasp at something to get himself out of the small crater he was in, his body hurt, far more than it should, for whatever reason Stitch had yet to…_

 _"_ _Stitch…" He gasped, voice shaky and dry._

 _Stitch had fallen, he had lost his grasp on the Ghost's shell when, when that thing had knocked him off the ship, he had to get up, he had to find Stitch._

 _He got up slowly, noticing the ruined cityscape around him, and worst of all, the piles of bodies almost everywhere he looked, Human and Cabal stacked up like garbage as their mouths were open in silent screams._

 _Aiden ripped his helmet off, gagging as his stomach attempted to empty itself, and finding no purchase since he had not eaten for several weeks._

 _He set his stance slowly, discarding his near broken helmet in favor of getting some air inside of his suit since the cooling system seemed to have been broken during his fall._

 _He did his best to not focus on the bodies around him, only stopping once to pick up his discarded gun, the Travelers Chosen, whatever had happened, his gun was now missing several components, and its magazine was split nearly in two, leaving him with no ammo, and no Ghost._

 _He fell._

 _He landed with a cough, trying his hardest to move away from the area he was in, it was far too open for his taste, and he could still see many Cabal ships circling the area, meaning he had little chance of survival if he was caught._

 _He limped._

 _His body was in pain, but he had a mission, Stitch was missing, and Io was as well, he had left her in the Tower because he was going on a more 'unsavory mission', if he knew this would happen, he would have kept her, consequences be damned._

 _He heard a voice._

 _"_ _Help me…"_

 _His head snapped towards a small pile of bodies, looking in bewilderment as his eyes slowly focused on that of a child, who was being covered by a pair of bodies, both looking to have jumped on her before their death._

 _He rushed over with little thought, pausing only for a second to breath after the large amount of pressure he put his body under, and to lift the corpses off of the girl who was covered in blood, her grey eyes filled with tears and pain, and her brunette hair clumped with blood and dirt from the wreckage around her_

 _"_ _It's okay, it's okay, I'm here…" He said slowly, catching the little amount of breath he had, the girl seemed hesitant, but when her eyes caught his armor, she seemed to brighten, if only a little._

 _"_ _Your… you're a Guardian" She said, reaching forward to touch his scarred chest plate in a form of reverence, as though she could not believe what she was seeing._

 _She did her best to get up fast, but she appeared to be exhausted, Aiden did his best to assist her, but in his weakened state, even trying to lift the girl who was half his size nearly put him down._

 _"_ _Yes, but listen, we have to leave okay? It's very dangerous here." He said quietly, trying his hardest to look around while the girl slowly stood up, her eyes roaming around the body filled courtyard before they landed on the two that mattered to her._

 _She teared up, her lip quivering and her eyes becoming dull and lifeless once again, and a small part of the Guardian seethed._

 _She was not supposed to see this, she was supposed to live her life happily, and the Cabal had taken that from her._

 _"_ _M-my mom… my dad…" She said softly, her voice was filled with anguish, her entire body quivering while she silently starred at them._

 _Aiden moved quickly, picking the girl up with all his drained might and covering her with his nearly destroyed cloak, and he moved forward, because he could barely stand, much less console a grieving girl, but he would not dare leave her, no matter how painful it felt to carry her._

 _He moved forward for what felt like an eternity, aware of the sobbing girl crying into his shoulder, and the distinct ache of not having a voice in his head, only when he came upon a downed ship did he pause, for a Cabal dropship was circling above, its light very nearly catching him and the small girl._

 _He stumbled._

 _A small underpass was nearby, but so too was a large patrol of Cabal, the thing that caught his eye most was the tanks they had brought down, not even caring about all the bodies they were drifting over._

 _Only when they passed did he feel comfortable enough moving, and when he did, the girl and him both gave a start as a voice called out in the darkness nearby._

 _"_ _Aiden!"_

 _"_ _Stitch!" He shouted back, realizing his mistake a moment too soon as he ducked into the shadows of the underpass, only giving a brief glance backwards to ensure no one had heard._

 _"_ _Aiden… Your alive. I thought I lost you." Stitch said, his voice coming out near broken, the Ghosts shell in no better shape than the City around them._

 _"_ _I can heal you, but… I can't revive you, not since…" His words were lost however, his broken body turning towards the girl held in his arms, who was gazing at the small Ghost._

 _He broke out of his stupor a moment later, only giving his Guardian a small sorrow filled glance before a large upwelling of power washed over them, and Aiden found himself healed._

 _All was silent as the Guardian slowly made his way further down the underpass, holding unto the girl even more once he found numerous number of the dead._

 _"_ _Guardian… The Light is gone, they've taken the City, the Traveler, everything…" Stitch spoke softly, causing the girl to look at him with a small frown, clearly more upset about the Ghosts sudden mood swing then Aiden was._

 _He felt sadness._

 _Stitch continued on, seemingly uncaring as he transmatted into their inventory._

 _"_ _The Red Legion is killing powerless Guardians..."_

 _Aiden cut him off before Stitch could continue giving the girl in his arms a reason to be scared._

 _"_ _We have to get to the Tower Stitch, can you find a way?" He asked softly, very aware of the open space they were entering, the first time he had ever been into the inner City without paperwork or a large amount of drills about safety._

 _He preferred the old way._

 _"_ _They're evacuating the planet, broadcasting an emergency rendezvous coordinates, Aiden, we're on our own…" Stitch said, his voice breaking near the middle of his sentence, small cracks appearing through their link._

 _"_ _We'll find a way Stitch, we always do…" Aiden said, resolve almost drowning out the ocean of uncertainness that was now flooding his mind, the only hope he had was the small dream of a vision that he gained before his fall._

 _Stitch seemed to understand it, if only briefly, but he knew it was a better shot then marching into the Cabal controlled city._

 _The Tower was not a good place to go, it was swarming with enemies and AA guns, but it also held the only ships in the City fast enough to get them all away from the Cabal legion._

 _Now that he really focused on it, Aiden could see exactly where they were going, the Tower was looming above them, burning and nearly destroyed, but still standing, somewhere inside there, was Io and their ticket out of the burning City._

 _They began to move._

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Aiden gave a small start, before his blurry and unfocused eyes searched for the sudden noise he had heard, his hand instinctively going towards his hip, where Fatebringer sat.

He swung his gaze all around the small hill, searching in the dim light for any sign of an attack, and when his eyes landed on Eragon slowly scraping away at a stick, he relaxed visibly.

Then Stitch had to ruin it.

 _"_ _That dream again huh?"_ He spoke, his voice dull and void, much like how he was feeling.

Io perked up a small bit, her head swiveling to find her Hunter, while also alerting him to the fact that she was awake, most likely awoken by the sound of a boy scratching wood right next to sleeping people.

Kids these days.

 _"_ _What dream?"_ Io asked inquisitively, looking at the space Stitch usually occupied when he wasn't being a scardy Ghost _._

 _"_ _Just a dream about Oryx, nothing to worry about"_ Aiden replied easily, gliding into the lie with an ease that sickened him deep down, he hated doing it, but that day was for Stitch and himself, she did not deserve to see the horrors the attack brought.

She was of course suspicious, but without her Guardian revealing his emotions, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking unless he deliberately let her feel the emotions, so she shrugged and went back to laying her head down.

Saphira certainly didn't seem to mind being used as a Ahamkara's pillow, in fact, she was even purring, much like a cat.

Aiden practically felt the evil sin about to come from Stitch and his dirty mind, so he quickly grabbed a small pan that sat inside Eragon's bag, and repeatedly smashed it into his uncovered head.

Once the ringing pain died down, he stopped clutching his head, wary of any more dirty thought from Stitch, but once he was sure the little evil monster was done sinning, he put the pan right back in Eragon's bag and avoided the stare that practically screamed "Are you crazy?"

"So Eragon, what's shaking?" He asked smoothly, moving away from Saphira and towards the more open area of the camp.

"I don't know what that means." He said slowly, gazing at his fellow Rider in confusion.

"It means what's happened recently, what have you been doing, stuff like that." Aiden explained with a good natured grin, he always enjoyed explaining cool lingo to new Guardians, and Eragon was going to be next in line.

"Oh… Well Brom is making a plan to sneak into the room that has the records, but he wants me to be able to read before then, so he believes it will take all week for me to at least be 'passable', as he called it." The boy said, shoulders slumping in defeat, which was rather understandable, since he had to learn a whole language in a week.

Some people just weren't lucky enough to have a Ghost put all the info in their head.

While Stitch rolled his eye and pretended to mutter 'hypocrite' Aiden went and did real work, because he had fingers.

He could practically feel the malice coming from Stitch, and boy did it feel good when the Little Light gave him the Ghost equivalent of a middle finger.

Aiden decided he wasn't about that life, and instead went back towards the small cliff face, before he gave Eragon a two fingered salute, and leapt off, falling through the air, enjoying the small moment of free fall before he activated his jump, and landed in a crouch.

"Being this cool has benefits, eh Stitch?" Aiden asked his question rhetorically, not expecting an answer, and not surprised when he made it all the way to Jeod's place with no hassle.

The man's wife gave him the stink eye when he knocked, but she did let him in, which is what mattered, and while he barely acknowledged the building he was in, Stitch practically forced him to observe the shelfs lined with books, some even looked over a century old, if what Stitch said was true.

He finally took his gaze away from the many books, and instead focused on Brom and Jeod, who were examining him and his dirty attire.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" He asked quietly, actually concerned that something was indeed trapped on his face, aside from his newly growing stubble.

Before, Zavala had drilled it into him that beards were strictly forbidden in the Guardian service, and even if he was slightly more lenient on the issue the City fell, he still remembered that last Guardian who dared to defy the Commander.

He shuddered, that section of the wall was never dirty again.

He refocused on the conversation at hand, no more aware of Brom and his incessant nagging.

"Do you understand your part boy? We need you there so we can get the records, any slip up could very well end with us in chains." Brom asked, staring directly into Aiden's eyes with a look only old people could successfully master. The Old Persons Scorn.

Aiden shuddered once more, before he set himself down on the fancy carpet, and started picking at his fingernails with one of his many throwing knives.

"While that plan I totally listened to sounded just wonderful, I have a slightly better idea." He stated rather loosely, giving a hidden smile when he saw Brom twitch his eyebrow.

"And what, pray tell, is this masterful plan?" He asked slowly, incredulous doubt plaguing his voice, as though he were just humoring him, which was rather rude.

Aiden stood, giving the whole room a big old smile, and one small middle finger, before he proclaimed loudly

"Fuck this shit I'm out!"

And vanished completely.

The reactions were totally worth revealing his one trump card.

Brom was in the process of rolling his eyes, so he barely caught the transition between Hunter and None Hunter, but when he finally set his gaze unto the spot Aiden had occupied, he promptly lost his jaw to the floor.

Jeod and his reaction were similar, although he lost his entire cup of tea instead, which clattered unto the very expensive looking rug with a dull thud.

 _"_ _Do you enjoy being a douchebag? Because you are_ so _good at it."_

Well screw you too Stitch.

Aiden gave a small bow that nobody could see, before he promptly told Stitch to deactivate Rasputin's cloaking device.

Brom and his old jaw once again dropped, while Jeod simply gave a large start, jumping and losing his grip on the teacup he had only just begun to pick up.

"So yea, I could probably get your record today if you would like."

With that, Brom instantly began his questions.

Aiden sighed, before he set about answering all of them, even though it would only take a few hours for Brom to question everything about his invisibility, that was nothing compared to a week of waiting for a kid to read.

So he set back and let it happen, careful to look like he was paying attention, even though he let Stitch guide his voice.

 _"_ _What a day this has become."_ Aiden said, giving a brief thanks to Stitch, before he completely lost his focus and drifted off.

 _"_ _Just wait, I wholly believe you will find some way to screw it up_ " Stitch said, his voice dimming as he tried to focus on two thought processes at once.

 _"_ _Stitch, have I ever said screw you?"_

Because Aiden had a bad feeling his Ghost was right, the cheeky bastard.

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 _"_ _I am actually terrified right now"_

 _"_ _Stitch, now is not the time for a panic attack, the Hive were much worse than this, so calm your shell"_

 _"_ _Says you, I always hate when we have to sneak, it isn't fun keeping this cloak up you know?"_

 _"_ _It's much easier if you stop talking!"_

After that little quip, the Ghost hovering invisibly over his shoulder finally cut the chatter, realizing the point of being silent, and because his Guardian honestly needed to concentrate.

Aiden was once again wearing his armor, the Iron Lord gear giving him a heightened sense of security, truth be told, he had missed lounging around in his chest plate, it offered so much knife space.

Stitch rolled his eye, but wisely chose to stay silent.

Sneaking was difficult, especially when the halls here were suddenly covered with guards, much more than when he had originally scouted the place.

That alone sent several warning alarms sounding inside his head, but he needed to focus, because he was nearing the room, and he even invisibility could not fool someone who just saw a door open on its own.

 _"_ _Alright, get in and transmat me inside okay?"_ Aiden asked in a quiet whisper, indicating towards the door while his Ghost silently rolled his eye, and teleported inside the door, which was soon replaced by the brightly lit room of records, which of course, had a damn window he could have slipped in through.

He sighed, before uncloaking and giving Stitch a 'go on' motion, indicating the piles and piles of scrolls in front of them.

 _"_ _You could be helping you know."_

"But then who would be watching the door?"

 _"_ _Not you, but we can argue this all day, so please shut up while I search."_

"Fine, I'll just go look out the window."

And he did, looking out and finding a very confusing sight.

"Why am I seeing a boy outside the window?" Aiden asked, his question just being ignored as senseless babble, which certainly caused Stitch to tune him out and ignore the _fricking boy outside the window!_

The kid was not surprised to see him here, he even gave the Guardian a friendly fanged grin before Aiden felt a small tendril of consciousness tap against his barriers, which was good, because most bad guys did not ask nicely to enter your thoughts

Aiden gently unlocked his mind, careful to not let the boy intrude upon his deeper thoughts, and sent a very simple message.

 _"_ _Who are you?"_ He asked slowly, carefully watching the grin grow in size.

 _"_ _Most people remember the one they lost duels to, but you did not seem to be the brightest warrior."_ The boy said, his eyes shifting to familiar cat like shape, and his fangs extending much more than they already did.

"Oh what the hell man." Aiden muttered darkly, before he went and opened the window, and proceeded to poke the cat boy on the nose.

"That's for being a dick, now what are you doing here?" he asked lowly, careful to not alert the guards who were now stomping outside the door.

 _"_ _Im just stopping by to warn you that the guards know you're here."_

And before Aiden even had a chance to blink, Solembum was gone, and the resounding thud of boots had stopped.

Right in front of their door.

 _"_ _Stitch, you got it?"_ Aiden asked harshly, putting his body between the door and Stitch, hearing the men outside mutter about unlocking the door.

 _"_ _Almost… Almost… There! I have it."_ Stitch proclaimed proudly, the scroll he was scanning disappearing safety into their inventory, right as the door twisted to open.

Several guards burst into the room, spears pointed and shoulders tense, only to fine several discarded scrolls, and an open window.

They all scrambled out of the room, shouting to their comrades, unaware of the rippling air the held itself above the door, or the small floating Ghost who was practically shaking in its shell.

 _"_ _Traveler that was close."_ Aiden said shakily, he was not in the mood to fight off all the guards in this building, and he wouldn't really feel right killing humans.

 _"_ _How did you know they were coming?"_ Stitch questioned lowly, transmatting himself to safety now that he had a time to concentrate on doing so.

 _"_ _Solembum gave me a hint, can you do something about the cloak? Its shimmering far too much for my tastes."_

 _"_ _You'll have to let me check your memories later, until then, let's get out of this building before they catch on."_ And with that, Stitch fell silent, most likely concentrating on keeping the shimmering field of bent air around his Guardian.

Aiden landed on the ground with a thud, careful to watch out for anymore guards patrolling, before he left the hallway in search of his exit.

Although… something was off, the halls which had usually been bustling with noises and activity were strangely silent, and Aiden got the strange sensation that the shadows were watching him.

He was almost upon the next corner when he heard the small sound of boots upon the ground, and he held himself against the wall, for something about the situation rubbed him all kinds of wrong ways.

The feeling of impending doom inside his very Light did not help this feeling.

Before he had much of a chance to react, a very large dagger found itself impaled next to where his head was about to be, the feeling of _wrongness_ emanating from the black weapon almost made him lose focus on the next black dagger which was inching towards his helmet covered head.

A blink served to distance Aiden from the assailant that had almost claimed his life, and he did his best to examine the situation as Stitch gave him a standard Hunter dagger.

The most eye catching part of his opponent was not the large daggers and their evil aura, or their cloak which appeared to be covered In shadows, no, the most noticeable feature of the red haired woman in front of him was her blood red eyes, filled with a dim satisfaction, and a large amount of glee, for what, Aiden could not tell, but his senses immediately screamed 'dangerous' as soon as he caught sight of her.

Whoever she was, she had skill, speed, and maybe even wit, not even Cayde had been able to sneak up on him with barely any effort, and that spelled trouble for him if the thing in front of him was even half as talented as the robotic Vanguard leader.

So Aiden chose the correct move, and blinked behind the girl, taking off in a sprint even as he felt a dagger rip into his cloak.

 _"_ _Stitch! What the absolute fuck is that thing!?"_ Aiden asked as he tried his best to dodge the daggers that were rapidly gaining distance upon him, the woman had home field advantage, she knew exactly where she was going, and he could not go his full speed, unless he wished to slam directly into a wall.

 _"_ _I can't tell! Whatever it is, she does not enjoy being scanned, all I can get is that she is covered in some type of Hive like magic!"_ The Ghost's voice was near hysteric, he never did like his Hunter being chased by strong opponents, and this one was obviously going to be a challenge.

 _"_ _Shit man! I need to get the hell out of here, give me a transmat!"_ Aiden shouted desperately, the daggers were now slowly tearing into his cloak, he wasn't much concerned with why the girl behind him wasn't throwing her melee weapons, but he wasn't about to question her on the matter.

 **She is toying with you.**

"Now is not the fucking time creepy voice!" Aiden shouted harshly, not caring about the fact that the damn voice was back, because like mentioned earlier, he was losing large amounts of his precious cloak.

 _"_ _I can't transmat us, something is blocking our signal to the beacon your bag has, we need to get out of here the old fashioned way!"_

 _"_ _The old fashioned way involves us dying until we can kill whatever the hell is chasing us!"_

 _"_ _You make a good point, I'll try to get through the bloc- Turn left!"_ The Ghost exclaimed loudly, causing his Hunter to turn left, and come into contact with the beautiful sun, and the courtyard full of the guards he had been missing earlier.

"Oh you sunuva bitch!" The very irate Guardian shouted, pointing a shaky finger towards the smirking redhead, whose hair was seemingly glowing even more blood red in the daylight.

"Like what the fuck? Who sets up an ambush out here?" He asked, gesturing around the courtyard, which gave him a very good view of the archers surrounding him.

 _"_ _Stitch, I have a plan, tell Io to inform Saphira that shit went down, I might not be able to escape this without dying, but I'll be damned if the others get hurt"_ Aiden said softly, hoping without reason that the thing in front of him could not see his communication.

He gave Stitch some unspoken thoughts, indicating his trump card with a barely concealed numbness, what he was about to do would most likely leave him near Lightless for a few days, and that was if the girl in front of him was as skilled as he believed.

He felt the small bundle of cloth appear in his hand, causing the woman and several of the guards to tense, but while the guards were somewhat cocky and sure of themselves, the redhead took a step back, most likely realizing that the electricity dancing across Aiden's body was not a good sign.

Aiden gave a small wave, before he clutched the orb within his hand, and unleashed his pent up electricity into it, causing the Travelers mote of light to implode, and making all of his Light erupt into a frenzy of Arc energy.

Aiden once again gave in to the storm inside him, finding his inner calm as a large staff of pure Arc formed in his left hand, electricity flowing into his very soul, and illuminating himself in the woman's blood red eyes, which now held a small amount of terror, and a look of pure joy, her lips upturning, indicating she knew just how tricky this fight had become.

He grinned as well, laughing to himself, before his staff traveled into the nearest guard, ending his life in a disintegration of Arc energy.

All was silent, but not for long, as the Darkness user made a small gesture of her hand, and sent all of her toys to their death.

Aiden was not happy to do this, but he was given a challenge, and his staff was hungry, so, with a grace and deadliness that few things could match, he jumped into the fray, self loathing and anger emanating all the while.

The woman would die, and his Light would be the tool of her destruction.

It had been so long since he had a challenge.

 **Authors notes!**

 **Important thing! Please read.**

 **School is killing me, sorry about the late chapter, but I made it extra long and tense just for you guys!**

 **Wait…**

 **The Crimson Commando: Okay, tbh, I totally missed that. And filler! You dare claim FILLER!?**

 **How did you know…?**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Dude, Aiden will absolutely destroy any credit he might get with the elves, it's gonna be so fun to write.**

 **ArchAngel319: I always do, otherwise what's the point of writing?**

 **Hollydoor: thanks for the compliment, but if you're feeling depressed, how about talking to someone about it?**

 **Azorin: Thanks! I hope I continue it too, I generally dislike discontinued stories.**

 **SethisawesomeGT: That would certainly be an interesting plot point, but I haven't thought into transformations for his powers, its mostly… Destiny based. (Hint Hint)**

 **General ramblings**

 **Schoooooool!**

 **As I said, its kicking me arse, and I'm doing my best to pump out chapters that don't suck, and this one was more backstory for Stitch and Aiden, I know im basically ignoring Eragon, Brom, Io, And Saphira, but they will all come together soon enough, for now, our favorite Guardian is in the spotlight of a certain Vex Lady, whether or not it's a good thing is for the story to decide…**


	7. Climbing Home

Duck, slash, upper cut, a small dodge to the left to avoid a spear, and repeat.

Fighting was a sport for him, always moving, always searching for his next target, he took so much pleasure in ending the lives of someone who would dare threaten his City, any who challenged him found themselves glaring heatedly at him while they had a blade at their throats.

He did not kill for sport, or for any type of malice, he killed because it was needed, because if he did not, a person he protected might well be the next victim.

He was gliding through them, extinguishing all of their lives with but a twitch of his power, a twirl of his staff, and a life ended so simply, no fuss, no blood, they did not even have time to scream before they were devoured by the Arc swirling around his body.

He hated it so much.

But it was necessary, it was what needed to be done, and that is the mantra he chanted over and over, so maybe one day he could believe that their lives ended for more than just a game.

He did nothing to pay attention to the next few minutes of slaughter, he blocked it off almost as well as he hid the moment from Io, which was rather easy, since he could only feel small traces of her emotions because of whatever was blocking their outbound and inbound signals.

With the last of the soldier's dead, he let the feeling of euphoria die away, taking with it his staff, and the Arc traveling through his body, the feeling of losing it usually brought a small amount of longing, but now it was just a dull ache upon his soul.

 _"_ _How will we kill her?"_ Stitch inquired lifelessly, just as fatigued mentally as his Hunter.

 _"_ _Multiple knives in the head, preferably with lots of pain."_ He muttered darkly, his gaze now finding itself to the smirking woman, her near white skin all the more noticeable now that he was actually paying some semblance of attention.

"Impressive! I haven't seen moves as nice as those in a long time." The woman spoke, her voice carrying a playful edge, as though this was but a friendly conversation.

"Shame about the guards, told the fools to leave, but not everyone obeys me you know?" She asked playfully, her banter doing nothing but causing the tense Hunter to clutch the knife that appeared in his hand tightly, twirling it before setting himself into a fighter's stance.

"Right to it huh? No banter? No blushing of complements? It's hardly every day you get complimented by a Shade!" Near the ending of her sentence, her pale arms removed themselves from her cloak, gesturing around the silent courtyard, where she had sent dozens of men to their deaths.

He barely gave it a thought, her outward appearance was excited, she was practically shaking at the chance for a challenge, and it showed with her small dancing steps and the way her eyes shined with dimmed joy.

She almost appeared human.

He pulled out Fatebringer, aiming right for the woman's head, and pulled the trigger to put an explosive round right into her cranium.

If she had not dodged at the last second.

"Fancy tools, but mine are better!" With that remark, she flung her dagger directly at his gun, aiming right for the barrel.

Aiden was no fool, whatever those daggers were, they would not simply bounce off his gun, they were covered in such a Darkness that he had no doubt it would end badly to even be pricked by one, so he ducked and took a crouching stance, aiming not for her head, but for her knee.

His shot missed once again, but not without a small little graze, sadly not causing the explosive round to detonate, but causing a small amount of discomfort, judging by the grimace on the woman's expression.

"Tools are only good in the right hands." He stated numbly, his voice betraying no emotion and his gaze never leaving the blood red eyes staring at him.

He gave the woman a moments reprieve while he gathered his wits, in which she retrieved her lost dagger, while he summoned Quickfang.

With Aiden's use of his abilities, the fight could truly begin.

He flashed forward in a blink, his knee put forward for a devastating head blow, but he once again underestimated the woman who ducked under his blow, and cut very close to his legs tendons.

He landed in a stagger, his sword hanging behind him as Fatebringer was deposited in his inventory, he needed speed and wit to win this fight, not explosives and electric swords, even if he had much more experience with both.

The woman did not give him long to contemplate his new injury, she lunged forward with her supernatural speed and her deadly daggers, bringing one forward to penetrate the injured Guardians chest, only a timely flick of Quickfang saved him from having another grievous wound.

 _"_ _Aiden, be careful, whatever those daggers are doing is blocking your Light, I can't heal your wounds."_ With Stitch's final words, Aiden gave a small glance towards his leg, which was bleeding at a rather alarming rate, that only gave him more incentive to finish this fight.

He gave himself to the instinct inside him, thrusting upward with his sword to deflect the dagger plummeting towards his head, and spun around the Shade, careful to avoid her backwards elbow, and slammed the hilt of Quickfang into her arm.

The move served to get the woman to release one of her daggers, but it also let her shave a large portion of Aiden's helmet off, sliding through his protective covering like butter and missing his head by a hair with her other dagger.

He immediately had Stitch get rid of his helmet, the optic that allowed him to see through the protective gear rendered useless when the girls blade cut through it.

The woman had stood back, allowing the process to happen, looking more and more intrigued by the Guardian each second, but she was not allowed to observe for long, as Quickfang flew into her side, catching her off guard and slicing into the area just to the side of her stomach.

She grunted and pulled out the offensive blade, throwing it to the floor as she started muttering in a language that sounded like the one Brom had been teaching both Aiden and Eragon, which meant magic was being used.

Aiden could not afford such an outcome.

He lunged forward once again, having Stitch summon Quickfang to his hand while he aimed said blade directly at the woman whose wound was slowly knitting itself together, she had very little time to dodge, but whatever she was made her reaction time far more superior to a human, and she rolled out of the way and into safety.

Aiden growled in anger, her speed was on par with professional Hunters and it was becoming more and more difficult to focus when his leg was dripping blood like Taken dripped interdimensional goo.

He needed to finish this fight, and the way things were turning out indicated he would not be able to do so soon.

 _"_ _Aiden, we can't stay here, I can try and transmat the records to Io, but if we don't leave now you're going to bleed out, and we cannot show anyone what we can do, not yet."_ Stitch murmured worriedly, most likely checking his Hunters armor diagnostic, which was not looking good if the black spots at his vision were any indication.

 _"_ _If you can transmat the records then why not us?"_ He asked, his breathing becoming slightly shallow as the bleeding seemed to intensify, for a brief moment Aiden considered he might have been poisoned, because he had lost arms and legs before and kept going for a long while, a small cut should not be affecting him like this.

 _"_ _I found a small gap, big enough for me to send over a small item, but not much more."_ He said, giving his Guardian the mental equivalent of puppy dog eyes.

Aiden nodded once, his eyes noticing that the woman was back to watching him, most likely noticing the slightly wobbling stance he had, and that Quickfang was now being held by two hands instead of one.

 _"_ _Stitch, go with Io, I'll get away from this place."_ He stated, dismissing Quickfang while he slowly drew in the Void between his palms, catching the attention of the woman.

Stitch could feel the seriousness pouring off his Hunter, the Guardian did not often get like this, but when he did, Stitch often felt the very pressing need to obey.

So with a final thought of good luck and a large upwelling of hesitance, Stich teleported to Io's beacon, completely cutting off Aiden's link to the Little Light.

He sighed in relief, before he focused on the task at hand, summoning this power naturally was painful, but using up his limited Motes was an even bigger risk now, so with a large groan, Aiden summoned a bow made of pure Void energy.

The woman shook herself out of her reverie, the Void power having somewhat entranced her, before she surged across the courtyard, trying to stop whatever the Guardian was about to do.

Aiden smirked, and let an arrow fly.

The Void projectile hit the ground directly in front of the woman, releasing its volatile payload and slithering towards the nearest target, and tethering her in the Void energy.

Aiden only barely saw the look of shock and pain that flashed through the woman's eyes, and he only dimly heard the scream of pure pain that she gave off, before he blinked over the gates, and began to run towards the outer walls

He needed to leave, clean his wound, and get assistance.

He would have loved to keep Stitch and Io, but they were both in danger as long as that woman lived, so he ran as fast as his leg would allow, feeling the effects of blood loss taking its toll.

But he moved on.

He made it to the wall in a haze, hearing the guards shouting to close the gate, most likely to try and keep him out, but they did not know they were dealing with an escaping pro, even if he was currently bleeding out and almost at the edge of unconsciousness.

He cloaked himself in Void energy, causing the light from the sun to bend around him once again, he leaped into the air with a blink, careful to keep it less flashy and loud, and landed on top of the wall with a stumble and a curse.

His leg was hurting, those daggers were most likely poisoned, and damn if they were not effective at blocking his healing abilities.

He was having trouble focusing, he could feel Stitch out there, getting Io and the others as far away as the little Ghost could, but they could not reach each other, every time he tried Aiden found his mind would become hazy and unfocused, meaning the poison did more than just drain his blood.

Dying here was ill advised, but it felt so good to simply close his eyes and doze off, but even resting for a few moments would allow the woman to catch him, and he doubted his ability to fight her now that he had drained his Light on the Tether shot.

A smaller part of his mind argued that sending Stitch away kept him from healing faster and being revived, but that part was squashed down by cold hard logic, the woman could channel the Darkness, or she at least appeared to be able to, and he would rather die his final death than let Stitch be caught.

He stood shakily, glad that this particular part of the wall was understaffed, most likely because they were all focusing on the gates themselves, but he needed to leave now, they would not stay occupied for long.

He landed on the other side of the wall with a grunt of pain, the black spots at the edge of his vision only becoming more noticeable with each passing pulse of his heart.

He truly hated being this weak.

But he persevered, he had been in far more dangerous situations, his shiny leg attested to that, he went into an Arc powered sprint, his Light feeling more drained and dimmed each passing second, but unless he could summon a Sparrow without Stitch, he was stuck running as fast as possible.

Sometime later, time that Aiden could not be bothered to count, he stumbled into a small patch of trees, not big enough to block out ground enemies, but just enough to allow him a moments rest.

Aiden set himself down with a grunt, ripping a large piece of his tattered cloak and tying it around his leg, it would only stop the blood for a bit, but that was all he needed. A small dagger was pulled from his side, made of material that could channel Solar energy for long periods of time without dulling, and the perfect cauterizing tool.

He grabbed a small bundle of clothe from his cloak, he slowly put the cut cloak into his mouth, while he set to work on preparing himself for the stinging pain he was about to inflict.

With a flourish of power, his knife lit with flame, Aiden only gave himself a moment to calm his spirit, before he drove the superheated blade right next to his cut.

A muffled scream signaled the Hunters passing from consciousness.

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Io lifted her head sharply, her ears perked and her mind alert, moments ago she had felt something, a burning pain that did not come from herself or Stitch, who sat safely inside the leather satchel Aiden had entrusted her with.

Her Guardian was in trouble.

She could feel his pain, reverberating from the Void itself, it was distant, but she knew he was in pain.

 _"_ _Stitch, Aiden is hurting…"_ She spoke quietly, trying her hardest to forget what Brom said as he raved about the stupidity of her Hunter.

She wanted to torch the fool then and there, her friend was no fool, everything he did had a purpose, and if that 'Shade' had caused him to stay behind and send Stitch away, she trusted that he would be okay and perfectly healthy.

Even if a less certain part of her felt mind numbing terror.

 _"_ _It's okay Io, he'll be back, we just have to wait."_ Stitch tried to ease her worries, but he was not good at blocking out emotions, and she could feel the worry pulsing from him inside her little bag.

When she had suddenly pulled out the records her Hunter had valiantly fought to acquire, Storyteller Brom had attempted to take her precious Hunters bag, a firm growl and a nip at his hand had kept him back, while Big Blue had only given the younger a mischievous look, and a small feeling of pride, for whatever reason.

Io giggled to herself, Big Blue did not enjoy the nickname Aiden had given her, but she seemed content whenever Io said it, so she did whenever she got a chance.

Speaking of Big Blue, she was attempting to speak with Io, giving her a small concerned glance from her position up front, Big Blue had been hesitant to let Io ride on her without any type of straps, but she assured the older Ahamkara that she was well used to flying without a harness.

Well… her Hunter was, and that's what mattered.

Still, Io understood what her Hunter felt when his Light Within was used, this was her _home_ , and she enjoyed every second of the wind on her scales.

Io shook herself, she was daydreaming again, and Big Blue was getting more concerned, so she let the blue dragon inside her mind, careful to hide Stitch like Aiden had instructed.

 _"_ _Are you all right Young one?"_ Big Blue asked worriedly, her thoughts were focused on her Guardian for some strange reason, did she doubt that her friend could take on some silly humans?

 _"_ _Yes! I love flying, it feels amazing"_ Io mumbled, chirping a bit in enjoyment, banishing the impure thoughts of her Soul Bond being harmed, he was always safe, even if Stitch was not with him.

Despite what Stitch implied, she knew perfectly well that her Bond mate could not perish, even without his Light Within he was able to find her and escape the burning City Tower, and while he could be hurt and disabled, he could never die.

She kept this passion secret however, her other Bond mate Stitch would find these feelings of devotion troubling or obsessive, but he had not spent centuries resting in dusty bones that only gave her the smallest amount of outside perspective.

He had only spent centuries searching for her Soul Bond, so she became fast friends with the Light Machine, even if he was a bit rude.

Big Blue sent Io feelings of happiness and amusement, Io only had to send those feelings back before she once again focused on the feeling of the Void, looking through it to try and determine where her Bond mate could have gone.

She found nothing, distant visions of conflicts, but nothing that would indicate her Guardians Light Within, there was a small bit of Sol Fire burning, but it was only an ember, so she dismissed it, so many of Aiden's kind could use Sol Fire, she ignored all of the ones that burned too weakly to be his.

She did not worry too much, Aiden was special, and no Shade could ever defeat him.

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He awoke with a mind numbing ache, his Light was dim and nearly dry, his leg was burning and the smell of singed flesh overcame all his senses, for a brief moment, _he saw the dying City burning around him, a body held in his hands, slowly breathing its last brea-_

He shook his head, placing a hand on his sweat covered head, banishing the memory like he would a Hive Thrall, he closed his eyes for a moment, thankful to be alive yet pained that he was breathing in such a state.

His leg was cauterized, the wound was no longer bleeding, but he was still feeling fatigued, whatever was on the Shades daggers had hurt him, and he did not want a second dose of the poison, if it even was one, for all he knew, it could have been pure Darkness covering those blades.

Aiden brought out a small data pad, clicking in his password and bringing up a holo map that Stitch had made for occasions just like this.

The map had categorized where he was in reference with how far he ran and where he started, so Aiden had a general idea of where he was, very close to the coast, next to an island named Sharktooth, because it looked like a shark's tooth.

How original.

He dismissed the map, from what Stitch had gathered, the records indicated multiple places that the elixirs were being shipped, and while Aiden was a good tracker, he knew nothing about the Ra'zac or their living needs, so they could be literally anywhere.

He dismissed that thought, Aiden was not a betting man, but he knew that Stitch would attempt to leave trails, something that could allow his favorite Guardian to track him.

Small outbursts of Light would do, although this planet was so saturated with energy that it might well disappear by the time Aiden found it, so he dismissed that particular motivation.

He set off slowly, his leg still burning with pain and the supposed poison still pumping through his veins, it hurt, but it was manageable as long as it did not become too bad, and the feeling of doom inside his gut was no longer present, which was a somewhat welcome relief.

Aiden listened for a sarcastic comment, but was let down when nothing but silence greeted him, he truly missed having a voice inside his head, even if it was a dick.

He was nearing a large cliff now, it was rather steep, but he had climbed the City walls before, so this little piece of rock would be an easy challenge, as long as he kept his knives sharp, and did not miss any footsteps.

It took him a long time, his leg pulsed every now and then with a pain, but he was able to cross the mountain fairly easily, gaining an amazing view of the land while he was at it.

Aiden had not really been paying attention when he woke up, but the sun was now starting to sink below the horizon, bringing the light with it and reducing the glare that had been in his eyes for the past few minutes.

A small thought entered his mind, a tiny whisper that brought up an interesting question.

Why had he not been caught?

His leg had been bleeding since he escaped Teirm, and while he doubted the city had many expert trackers, they should have at least found him if they had that Shade woman on their side, they most likely had some skill at it.

Although… when he had Tethered her she had given off a very intense scream, while coming into contact with a Hunter and their Void Bow was disorienting, it should not have caused enough pain for the blood curdling scream.

He was over thinking this, but the thought that Void might have been more effective against whatever a Shade was gave him more confidence if he ever encountered the woman again.

Aiden shook his Vex leg, it had gotten caught in a small foothold, needed to focus, and hold out hope that he could catch up to Io and Stitch before any other problems occurred, he was certain that Brom could handle some of the work, but in his experience, there was always another enemy.

He reached the top fairly quickly after that, pulling himself up and resting his burnt leg for a moment as he gazed into the setting sun, the large ball of fire was setting over the ocean, giving the waves a very amazing shade of orange and pink.

Aiden mulled on some thoughts, before he set down his knife and foraged around for some pillow material, there were many places he could sleep, but a cliff next to him would give much more warning to approaching attackers than a forest would.

And his body was rather drained after forcing out his Void bow, so his explorative side could screw off until morning.

And so, with a small collection of weeds and bush parts under his head, Aiden fell into a restless sleep.

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 _Aiden grunted as another piece of concrete hit his uncovered head, his Lightless body had been put through its paces, and he doubted that it would have lasted this long without Lord Shaxx and his insane body building techniques._

 _Being fit wasn't just for Titans._

 _Stitch had cloaked him with Rasputin's invisibility technology, but without Light to power the more basic functions it was slow to adjust to surroundings, and if it fell, Stitch felt very strongly that he could not get it up once more, not in the state he was in._

 _The girl was there too, clutching his neck with a vice like grip, her body covered by as much scrap that Stitch could put together with his limited matter manipulation power, but she was protected, and that was all that mattered as Aiden scaled the broken Tower._

 _Not having Light limited them in more than just being revived, Stitch could no longer access large items like their Sparrows, armor, or guns, which meant Aiden was stuck with his near useless Travelers Chosen._

 _It was good to have in case something caught them, but with its reduced clip and burnt sights, the gun would take some major repairs to ever be useful._

 _Aiden did not want to think about the crater filled City behind him._

 _A blinding light passed over their invisible forms, causing the girl to whimper in fear and Aiden to tense, if the cloak fell now… he would die, there was no other way to say it._

 _Aiden was tense for many seconds, careful to make no sudden moves as the light slowly passed them and the ship disappeared behind the back of the Tower, its light leaving the two climbers even more restless than before._

 _"_ _You alright back there?" Aiden asked lowly, trying to keep quiet while he put most of his attention on steadily climbing the Tower, it was rough, but he was getting there, slowly but surely._

 _"_ _Im s-scared…" She stuttered out, her breath hitching during the beginning of her sentence, which nearly broke the beaten Hunters heart._

 _He hated risking this much with a civilian with him, but he needed to get to the Tower and save Io, getting an escape ship was just icing on the metaphorical cake._

 _Stitch would have been reprimanding him about now, saying to not make light of this terrible situation, to which Aiden would reply that he definitely wasn't making Light, of this situation._

 _Was it bad that he was talking to himself?_

 _When the light had gone, it also took away their link, not permanently, but it was a painful process to build up what had taken years to develop._

 _He hoped the City could be the same._

 _A grip he was holding crumbled into pieces, threatening to cause Aiden to do the same, the only thing that saved him was a large piece of rebar next to him, which stabled his fall, but it did not hide the terrified whimper the girl on his back gave out._

 _Aiden only then realized how close he was to the top of the Tower, he heard the sound of large thumping feet first, and felt the intense gaze of a Cabal Centurion search for the noise it had just heard._

 _He stopped moving, his heart almost threatening to do the same, Stitch was making worried movements in wherever he was hiding, and the girl was doing her best to close off her mouth and the tears spilling from her face._

 _Aiden grinded his teeth together, doing everything in his power to get the Cabal warrior away, to force him to leave, to get the damn monster to LEAVE!_

 _The thing looked around the edge for a few moments more, before his lumbering footsteps led him away from the shaking Guardian, who peeked over the small mound he had climbed to and put the girl down, while also being careful to keep in physical contact with her, she needed to stay invisible more than he did._

 _The upper Tower was above them, so close Aiden could feel the flames from the burning Vanguard station, but what mattered was getting inside and finding his room, Io would be there, and then they could all escape, whether by ship or running was yet to be determined._

 _He rested for as long as he dared, before he picked the girl up once again, and moved towards his burning home._

 _Io was there, and she was getting one hell of a rescue, although the foreboding feeling in his soul told him otherwise, but Aiden ignored it, he would be damned if Io died today._

 _Aiden did not think about the fact that there were worse things than death, he only pushed forward, and walked into the worst moment of his entire life._

 **Authors notes!**

 **Hollydoor: as this chapter no doubt illustrates, Aiden won't be able to just ignore the new Shade, he did underestimate her, but when one like Aiden finds himself in a world with underpowered enemies, you tend to do that, and it cost him dearly.**

 **Azorin: Yay indeed!**

 **Fdsadsaw: We do not take ships as currency here, only Stitch would find such vile terms acceptable as trade.**

 **An Anonymoose: Thanks for the concern friend, but my work ethic is this, if I become tired of writing it, I leave and go do something else until I feel good about continuing, you guys happened to catch me on a day where I wanted to write a whole new chapter.**

 **ArchAnger319: Aw yea, Destiny 2 is a major plot point in this, I'm going to try and avoid any spoilers that I can, but it happens. Also, my love for Eragon fanfiction and my hate for it not being updated was the motivation to make this story, so I hope to continue writing it until I eventually run into a writer's block.**

 **SethisawesomeGT: Hint Hint.**

 **General ramblings.**

 **Uh, I don't really have anything to say… Io is now a perspective, so… yeeeeea.**

 **Tell me how you enjoyed Io and her slightly understandable obsession with our favorite Guardian!**

 **Or don't, I guess it's up to you…**


	8. Hell Is Closer Then You Think

Aiden yawned lowly, his back facing the cliff he had recently jumped down as he surveyed the large Lago Woadark, a lake nestled in between the two mountains that blocked off most of Teirm to the inland of Alagaësia, the lake itself was rather clear, Aiden could even spot some wildlife on the outer edges of the Lago.

"Would make a great summer home." Aiden mused with a small peaceful smile, being a Guardian was tiring, but moments like this made it worthwhile, even if they did not come along often.

Being a defender of the Last City held a lot of responsibilities, rest and personal relationships were often rare and short lasting, no one wanted to be in a relationship with a corpse that had been reanimated from the dead, and if they did, a Guardians life left little time for them to ever see their partner.

Now that Aiden put some thought into it, spending time with Eragon, Brom, and Saphira had most likely been the longest he had ever spent with none Guardians.

He shrugged his shoulders, it was not his job to question his old life, Humanity wanted Guardians to be ruthless killing machines, so that's what they all became.

He knew no other way to live.

So Aiden enjoyed the small moment of peaceful quiet before he started sprinting, there was only so long he could go in the wild without a Ghost to constantly bicker with, and he did not feel like finding his limit on how long his slightly scarred sanity would last without Stitch.

About an hour into his little running trip, Aiden's leg started acting up once again, giving a short spasm as the wound started to pulsate in an irregular beat, which caused the Guardians vision to waver for a moment as a wave of nausea hit him like a truck.

Aiden grit his teeth and clutched his leg, the poison had been reaping havoc with his system, causing random spasms and sometimes severe pain, he doubted very much that he would have been alive this long without Light on his side, which made his distaste for the Shade woman all the more pronounced.

The only way Aiden could think of getting rid of the poison was to flood his system with Arc or Solar energy to hopefully burn it away, but that also carried risks because of the way he had used his Light yesterday.

He needed to find Stitch, and hopefully find a quiet place to be revived, that would hopefully clear it out.

Aiden regretted sending his Ghost away even more, while it made it easier to contact Io should his holo pad get within range, it also left him practically dead in the water should he come into contact with anything particularly large.

Quickfang was a good sword, but it left little power to be used on large opponents.

The water in the river rippled for a moment, before a fish came flying over the water and diving back in, gaining the attention of a bemused Guardian, before it jumped out of the water once again, trying to get away from some unseen foe under the water.

Aiden snorted for a moment, before he set himself once more into a runner's stance, going down the river would be a pain, but as long as he ran faster than his enemies and Brom's group, he would catch up with them quickly.

And so he did, going nearly his full speed even with reduced Light, it was costly, but Stitch would be able to heal him quickly, or that was his hope, if the poison acted like Darkness did when it was inside a Guardians body… then Aiden really hoped Stitch could heal him.

He couldn't afford to slow down now, running this fast while using Arc was giving him a large euphoric feeling, so he picked up the speed, blue flashes of Light swimming over his legs, and making the grin on Aidens face grow even larger.

It was no Arcstrider or Bladedancer, but it was a great feeling to have such primal feelings of power inside him.

Aiden did not truly focus on his surroundings, he only noticed which ways the river was snaking as he ran faster than any human could hope to catch up too, so when he found himself charging straight into a gapping chasm that held just a hint of death and evil, Aiden found himself falling head first into the deep hole.

He panicked, flaring his Light in a burst pattern to attempt to slow his descent into the dark cave system, but he knew the speed at which he was traveling would not allow him to simply slow the fall, he would be getting hurt, whether or not he wanted to be was not up for debate.

His feet were the first thing to slam into the ground, all the natural sunlight having disappeared in favor of deep looming shadows that seemed unnatural, the only illumination being the flare of Light from his jumps.

The landing had hurt, a lot, he had sprained his only ankle, and his Vex leg appeared to be just fine, although a small amount of the bronze plating was dented around his knee area, which was good, because all of the items he needed to fix his leg should it break was only accessible by Stitch.

Aiden grunted, lifting his hand a bit as he channeled Solar Light into it, illuminating the cave by a small degree, but it did not completely reveal the cave like it should, instead, the shadows almost seemed to absorb his Light…

He tensed, closing his eyes and going beyond the feeling of pain, beyond the sensation of Solar energy in his palm, he drove his senses beyond his body, into the vast Darkness surrounding him.

Darkness, large concentrations of pure evil was covering the place, explaining why he could no longer see the daylight, and why his Light was being dimmed.

He was surrounded, and with so little Light left inside him… he could not hope to fight off whatever was creating such waves of malice.

Being stuck in a place like this with only a sword was not a good idea, he could not communicate with anyone, his gear was all locked away, and unless someone knew exactly where he fell in, he was stuck, inside a cave that would slowly drain away his Light until nothing was left.

Eris Morn appeared in his head, and the journals she had left him filled with information about being stuck inside a cave such as this.

Aiden pulled Quickfang from his back, he went towards the nearest wall and began to scratch gouges deep inside, careful to make it rather obvious for himself, he had a mission, and finding the exit of this place was essential since the one he had come in through was not shrouded in Darkness.

The place was unnerving, every shadow moved when it came into contact with his Light, and while Aiden was very unsure, he felt small tendrils of thoughts flying into his mind, voices that could not make out any discernible words, only white noise.

He clutched Quickfang tighter, the Solar energy within the blade igniting at his call, Aiden needed all the Light he could spare, and waiting it on lighting was not a proper use.

Quickfang would only last for a few days without being used while powered by Solar, so as long as he was sparring, he would get through the cave unharmed.

Aiden stopped, notching another mark on the wide cave wall as he gazed upon a large metallic wall, covered with strange etchings that looked rather similar to the Ancient Language, and it even seemed to radiate the same power that Aiden had harnessed to learn magic, only much more mundane.

He reached his hand out and gently placed it against the wall, finding it to be cold and rough, the warmth of energy magic gave it being seeped away long before it could affect the temperature of the wall, the Darkness was leeching away the energy, not at a particularly alarming rate, but enough the Aiden could take a small breather when it began to focus more on draining the door than himself.

The wall made a harsh screech, causing Aiden to leap back and pull Quickfang up in defense of any foe that might appear, but all the he could hear was the grinding as the wall began to slide upwards, some unseen contraption pulling the ancient door into a hidden compartment.

When the door slid open, air began to rush in, filling a void that must have been closed off for years, and once Aiden could no longer feel the pull of a vacuum, he peaked his head inside, and a rancid smell reached his nose, making him back away and gag.

It was old and stale, but Aiden knew the scent well, blood and decaying bodies, and judging by the Darkness surging into the pit, something truly evil had happened within.

Aiden senses prickled, he turned quickly, finding the shadows glaring at him, not in the metaphorical sense, but he _felt_ something peering at him in that Darkness, some spirit or evil that was quite keen on making him feel uncomfortable.

He turned slowly, senses alert for any movement as he gazed inside the previously sealed vault, his body was doing its best to keep him back, to turn away from whatever lay within the depths, and for a brief moment, he considered it, everything about the place screamed bad.

His foot moved back a step, his gaze never leaving the dark hallway set before him, he gave the vault a long considering glance, before he turned away, and started to walk.

He had not gone far before a breeze came from the vault, carrying a voice that sent chills down his spine and caused everything inside him to freeze in cold terror.

 _"_ _Please Aiden, help me… The Darkness hurts"_ It spoke, its voice no longer carrying anything but terror and pain, taunting him to his very core.

Aiden found himself moving towards the Darkness far before he had a chance to stop himself, his legs were driving him forward even when his body began to resist, he knew that voice, the voice of someone who did not deserve to be locked away in this hell.

He did not consider the irregularities of her voice being here, but he knew no matter what he needed to save her, to release her soul from this whatever was keeping it chained here.

She would not suffer any longer.

He walked into Hell with his head held high, but he was not prepared for what laid within.

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Io yawned, night was approaching rapidly, and while she had not done much today, worrying over her Hunter had left her rather emotionally drained, knowing that Stitch was feeling the same way had worsened her mood considerably, the only reason she was currently even trying to sleep was because Saphira had forced her into a position where her tiny body could not escape.

Stitch found it amusing.

Io did not, being smothered by Saphira was rather warm and enjoyable, but she needed to stay up, her Hunter was out there hurting and feeling pain, she could not tell what kind, but even glancing at it through their Soul Bond left her rather scared, he had not felt that much anger and fear for a long time, not since after she woke from the attack on the Last City.

Conqueror Gaul had been a tough opponent, his control over Light had nearly cost her Guardian his life, but like all things, he prevailed, and the beast found himself defeated by the Traveler itself.

Feeling the Traveler awaken and spread its pure Light was one of the greatest moments of her new life, it was even better than when she first saw the Traveler, the feeling of such power being released had left her stunned as her Hunter became unconscious from the strain of using so much of his Light.

Since then, she had done everything in her power to attempt and be like her Hunter, digging into her mind for memories, experiences, anything to help or become more like him.

She had found the Void, and gave her Soul Bond a new power to help himself survive, and she felt content.

That feeling was back now, she felt content staying here, even if she was worried, and so Io settled down, laying her head on one of Saphira's large clawed feet as they both slowly drifted off to sleep, uncaring of Brom and Eragon battling it out with blades or the clang of metal against metal.

They drifted into peaceful sleep.

Aiden was not so lucky.

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He was running, far longer than he should have been, but she was in here somewhere, always around another corner, always just out of reach whenever he reached for her, and he felt himself grow angrier, she was running from him, and he needed to find out _why_.

She had not died on this planet, it was not possible for her soul to be locked inside the strange vault, so how could he see her? Running down the hall with a crooked gait, going faster than even a Hunter?

He needed answers, and damn it all if he would not get them.

Aiden picked up his speed, running full force down the strangely familiar hallways as lights seemed to flicker on and off as he came close to them, giving the eerie place even more bad feelings.

It was at moments like this that he wished Bad Juju was with him, it was not a very good weapon to have in a Darkness situation, but at least it helped keep the terrible whispering voices away from his already distressed mind.

As if the flickering lights weren't enough, Quickfang began to cut out, the Solar fire seemingly drowned out as the mechanism inside the small blade started turning off and on in beat with the lights.

As for said voices, they were beginning to grow stronger, calling him to towards something that he could not see, but he knew well enough that trusting spirits that had spent a very long time in a Darkness zone was a very bad idea.

Aiden stopped, the figure had done so as well, it was nearly indiscernible, and Aiden felt a sudden upwelling of dread fill his soul, something wasn't right about this… the person before him was unmoving, no breath, no twitches to indicate life, nothing.

He stepped back as the Darkness around him began to manifest into a solid figure, he even began to feel tiny specks of consciousness flow towards the shadowy being, whatever was happening was taking several spirits with it in the process, and Aiden felt the large need to begin running.

 _"_ _Im sorry… he made me do it, I couldn't stop him."_ The original figure whispered mournfully, turning around to face the terrified Guardian with a blank face, empty sockets starring at him while blood began to drip from its mouth.

 _"_ _Run, Aiden."_

Suddenly, the beast behind her screeched in rage and began to charge at the Guardian, forcing him to regain focus on the very dangerous situation he was in as the large amalgamation of shadows began lumbering after him.

Aiden ran, Quickfang held as far ahead of him as he would dare have it, lighting the decrepit and bloodied hallways far more than before, whatever the Shadow had done had taken most of the residual Darkness in the area, but Aiden knew it would be back, and he needed to be gone before then.

He ran full tilt, but even with his speed the monster was gaining on him, he began to feel its rancid breath on his neck, along with hundreds of voices whispering his name like a mantra, screaming for him to join them in death.

They hated him, they hated that he was allowed to live while they all died.

 _"_ _Join us Guardian, you have defied death long enough."_ It gurgled, flecks of black liquid sticking to Aiden's torn cloak and burning holes inside of it.

"Im afraid Im gonna have to take a rain check." Aiden huffed, breath coming out labored as his running and the poison began to drain his Light enhanced stamina.

He would not be able to run for much longer, the thing was practically at his back now, and it was beginning to grow smart, intercepting him at turns and leaping at his heels whenever it got a chance, which was pretty much always.

Aiden spotted a sign up ahead, it was old and nearly faded, but he could clearly see the symbol for elevator, so he cursed himself once more, before he summoned up all the Light he could as he began to glow with power.

The beast hissed in pain when a stray bolt of Arc hit its face, it did not stop as Aiden had hoped, but it gave the Arc covered Guardian a moment to smash into the elevator doors with Arc enhanced strength and push them open with a screech of rusty metal.

He got it open as far as he could before jumping down the dark shaft, he avoided being decapitated by a second, large Void powered claws tearing through the metal doors like cardboard.

Aiden laid his back against the elevator he landed on, drawing in large gulps of air as the over usage of Light took its toll on him, the beast was trying its hardest to fit through the doors and reach the downed Guardian, but it soon realized the futility of its attempts, and instead turned its gaze to the cables holding up the ruined elevator, and the Hunter.

"Don't you fucking dare…" Aiden muttered darkly, he knew that look very well, and judging by the beast's claws becoming covered with Dark Void, he would not enjoy what happened next.

As he predicted, the abomination slashed its claws right through the old cable, causing the elevator to shake for a brief moment as the emergency breaks attempted to hold the weight being put on them, but while whoever built the vault made it to withstand time, rust and Darkness was a hell of a corroder, and Aiden found himself in free fall, too tired to call up Light to slow his fall, so he disappeared into the Darkness of the shaft, but not before giving the grinning monster a middle finger.

The beast was silent for a moment as it peered down into the depths, searching for any hint that the Guardian had survived, and once it deemed that it could not tell, it lumbered away, leaving behind a crying figure that only gazed sadly into the shaft, before she too left, following her masters bidding.

 _"_ _Im so sorry Aiden, I had hoped you would not find this place, I did not believe even you can survive what's left of your humanity… and it seems I was correct."_

Unheard to all however, was the groan of a very pissed off Guardian.

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"Sonuva bitch Darkness monster asshole…" Aiden muttered as he Quickfang finally stopped flickering, the Solar energy lighting up the dark elevator shaft he had found himself in, the monster had attempted to kill him, but for the first time in a long while, something went right for the irritated Guardian when the box of death did not land on him.

It did happen to shatter Quickfangs blade, but not the part that produced the Solar energy he was using to navigate the damn haunted bunker.

Aiden checked his surroundings, completely ignoring the elevator that should not have existed on this planet, the people here could barely grasp electricity, so an elevator as advanced as the one that almost crushed him should have been impossible.

He slapped his head quietly, focusing on something that shouldn't have been possible was a lot less important than getting out of the situation that could very well spell his doom.

Luckily enough, a small escape hatch was located near where he had crashed, it was small and offered very little in maneuverability, but it would get him out of the damn pit before the Darkness realized he hadn't been squashed like a Fallen Dreg.

And before long, Aiden found the incessant whispers pulling at his senses, reminding him that while the Darkness was a large threat, the vengeful dead would not make this trip any easier.

The Guardian doubted that the spirits were not working with the Darkness, souls could only spend so long suffering and being tortured before they began to see their captors point of view, and seeing someone who spat in their faces with what seemed like immortality? Aiden was about to have a really bad day.

Quickfang began to flicker again, but he ignored it, the Solar mechanism was probably having trouble working with all the ambient Darkne-

 **SCREEEECH!**

Aiden leapt backwards in alarm, avoiding the disfigured skeletal face covered in rusty railroad spikes by only a few inches, in light of its missed headbutt, the skeleton attempted to scratch Aiden's defenseless head with its razor sharp fingers, tearing into the vent while the Guardian blinked backwards and raised what was left of Quickfang.

He jammed Quickfang into the moving bones cranium, causing the thing to crumble to individual pieces, and a small puff of Light to escape the dead things body.

 _Thank you_

Aiden huffed, adrenaline making his hands shake slowly, the thing had almost impaled him with spikes, and the only thing that had saved him was the last second screeching those claws had made.

Quickfang was no longer blinking off and on, the steady Solar energy the only thing keeping Aiden from panicking as his heart began to return to its normal beat.

He moved forward cautiously, the whispering had dimmed down, whether or not that was because the skeletal monster had failed to kill him, or because Quickfang had sliced it to bits was not Aiden's job to know, he just needed to get out of the tiny space before more things came to kill him.

The vent was stifling, the heat was causing his head to sweat while the rest of his body began to cool off because of his armor, the only good thing about the situation he was in being the light pouring from the next corner of the vent, meaning escape from the death trap was coming soon.

He clambered up a small incline as he moved forward cautiously, scanning the lit room he found himself in dubiously, wary of any more monsters lurking in the shadows.

Instead of an electrical light like Aiden was expecting, Aiden found a small bundle of Light, shackled to the wall with rusty chains and hooks, each one covered in dried blood, enough of it had poured on to the floor that Aiden knew nothing had survived this.

The Light reacted to his presence slowly, as if unsure, but once it seemed to realize Aiden was in fact real, it started to shake itself and the hooks it was impaled on, causing an unearthly chill to travel down his spine.

A screech from further inside the bunker made the ball of Light struggle even more, it was actively reaching for the Guardian, who was busy looking between the orb and the hallway the screech had come from.

Unbidden, a memory of Stitch's conversation came to his mind, of a discussion about a situation much like this.

 _"_ _When spirits are confined to one place for too long, they become restless, angry and hungry for anything to take them away from their prison, and if the Darkness happens to be in the area…" Stitch trailed off, checking to see if his Guardian was listening._

 _"_ _They latch on to the one thing that will let them escape." Aiden said distractedly, aiming down the sights with Icebreaker at an unaware Guardians who was busy talking away with one of his clanmates, occasionally moving his head up and down for some reason._

 _"_ _Exactly, so spirits that haven't been rescued by a Ghost or released by a Light user usually become corrupted if they didn't resist the Darkness, meaning any spirit in a Darkness zone is most likely evil unless you can tell for a fact it's got Light." Stitch finished, going full on lecture mode._

 _"_ _And how do you tell" Aiden mumbled, watching as the two Red teammates began to both nod along, shaking their heads way more than talking required._

 _Why were they just standing in the middle of the valley talking? Didn't they know that the Crucible was no time to be having a leisurely rant?_

 _He set his sights on the orangish one with blocky armor before he pulled the trigger and watched as a small orange Ghost appeared, covered in the same blocky armor as its Guardian._

 _"_ _Weird fashion sense…"_

 _"_ _You're not even listening to me, are you?"_

 _"_ _What was that Stitch?"_

 _"_ _Never mind you block head…"_

Aiden glanced once more at the tiny Light and rushed over to it with Quickfang drawn, slicing through the rusty chains with Solar energy as he hastily put the lost spirit inside his pocket, careful to not put too much pressure on the soul left inside.

He started sprinting towards the opposite door, careful to avoid any traps as he felt more than heard the dark presence start to plow through towards the Guardian, somehow moving fast enough to catch up to a full sprinting Hunter with max agility.

The ball of Light was going nuts inside his pocket, conveying Aiden's feeling of the situation quite well.

"Can't slow down bud, hope you understand…" He muttered breathlessly, his Light enhanced stamina currently useless while it was being drained by the Darkness.

Using it to keep himself running without break was useful, but having a somewhat steady supply inside him for an emergency super was even more important, even if using another one so soon would probably screw up his system. Again.

 _"_ _I can't keep this up for long…"_ And it was true, his power was running low, his breath was starting to become labored, and the feeling of tiredness was approaching in small waves, staying up for days on end with little rest caught up with you very fast if you were trying to ration Light.

The ball seemed to sense his weariness, it flickered a bit before Aiden felt a small wave of vertigo, and suddenly, the dim and scorched hallway he was in transformed into a brightly lit hallway, filled with people scrambling to get away from some unseen thing, and with the hallway briefly lit, Aiden spotted a small nozzle aiming precariously at the people, a tiny flame flickering.

The vision stopped as soon as Aiden got a glimpse of the flamethrower, and it also offered him plenty of time to duck when the ancient weapon reactivated, burning the Guardians head while he did his best to ignore the scorched portion of his face.

He hissed all the same, being caught on fire was not a fun experience, but while the flame had burned, it also served to slow down the hook monster who had stopped as soon as the weapon started, it had most likely planned for a cooked Guardian.

It got a middle finger instead.

"Fuck off you damn bastard!" He taunted, his breath not so ragged as adrenaline become more common inside his body, it would only work for a time, but it took the edge off of his tired limbs.

Crashing would suck though.

Aiden spotted a door to his left, covered with chains and dents that suspiciously looked like fists had been rammed into them, it was an obvious death trap, but it would hopefully serve as a way to avoid whatever other monster sought to eat his soul.

 **She watches you struggle, and refuses to intervene.**

"If you're going to be cryptic, go fuck a cactus…" He grumbled, not at all surprised that the voice would make an appearance in the haunted halls, the only good thing was that it was not trying to invade his mind at this time.

 **I will leave that to you**

Aiden blinked, that had been the first time the voice had responded to him, and it had even sounded… slightly sarcastic?

Troubling.

He kicked down the door, careful to avoid the bones of some unlucky souls as once again sprinted away from the Hook, its heavy footsteps becoming more and more frequent.

Aiden took barely a moment to observe the room he found himself in, it was covered with dangling hooks, each one supporting some huskified form, each one dripping a black liquid that was being collected in buckets from below.

He didn't need whatever could possibly be in the room, but the Hook man did not seem to enjoy the Guardian being inside of the harvesting room, if his roar of fury was any indication.

So he forged on, pushing through the hanging bodies that seemed to twist towards him and stare at him with their empty sockets.

 _They are gone, only Darkness remains._

The voice, it had come from the orb this time, low and hesitant, it probably was not used to speaking, and Aiden did not fault it for being scared, he was scared too.

"I will get you out of here, we just have to keep going…" The Guardian grunted with effort, the door was hidden behind several hanging bodies, and the thud of large meaty feet reminded him of the time limit he was on, stopping would only end with his death.

Maybe his last one.

Aiden pushed open the doors just as a large chain impaled the spot his head had been moments before, making the assailant grunt in anger and pull on the chain imbedded in the ancient metal walls, and to the surprise of the Hunter, tear a chunk of said wall off.

The display of strength only made Aiden more eager to run from the monster.

He ran as fast as he could, the power of Darkness was amassing behind him in large clusters that drained away all the color from whatever they touched, and for the first time in a long while, Aiden's Light and body was completely surrounded in Darkness.

He found himself losing conscious as something large and heavy bashed into his head repeatedly,

When he could comprehend his surroundings better, Aiden found himself suspended in the air, his body held taunt by some hidden force, while his Light was floating in front of his chest, humming with a thrum of power, the Darkness was swarming around him, agitated, but calm.

It knew he was stuck.

He struggled briefly, before his Light started to turn, revealing the side he couldn't see, which was stained with a deep all consuming blackness, dimming the light his very soul gave off tremendously, and as soon as the struggling Guardian noticed the dark stain, Darkness began to move even more quickly around him, turning the bubble he was in into a vortex of malice.

Aiden grunted lowly, his Light was keeping the dark at bay, but whatever he was caught in made the battle difficult.

 _"_ _Vex. Lady. Now would be…"_ Aiden grunted somewhat louder, trying to hold of a particular vicious assault of evil, before he continued. " _Be a good time to help…"_ Aiden grunted with effort as he expanded his mind as far as he dared, hoping and praying that _something_ would hear.

Aiden felt more then heard a soft voice resonate within him, a conscious was speaking to him, saying words his mind could not truly comprehend while he was fighting a losing battle.

A small spasm in his pocket reminded Aiden of his passenger, who was beginning to shake with a strange hum, almost as though it was attempting to do something.

The Darkness noticed the orb now, and it seemed very eager to get the ball of Light, something Aiden refused to let happen.

Too many people had died so he could live, and with a massive mental shout, Aiden _refused_.

With all of his might, Aiden reached into his soul and _pulled_ , dragging out a tremendous amount of power, he focused on it, and slowly but surely, a spark ignited the glorious Light into a flame of Solar, drowning the Darkness in a holy fire that burnt away the sphere he found himself in.

The Darkness burned away in a brilliant fire, turning to ash in front of his eyes as a strange sensation of being ripped apart and put back together occurred, and suddenly, Darkness was no longer holding him in suspension.

Aiden felt himself fall from an outside perspective, his vision was clouded and he couldn't make out anything except for an excruciating light in the sky, and the deep burning pain inside of himself, he had done something that left him feeling drained spiritually, his Light had also taken a huge chunk of itself in sacrifice.

He heard voices, distant and small, but they were familiar, voices that shouldn't have been inside of the hellish bunker, and Aiden had a difficult time comprehending how a light could be in the sky and how Io's voice could be calling to him inside of the underground hell.

The last thing Aiden could truly see before darkness clouded his vision was two very concerned amethyst eyes, tears brimming in their corners.

He smiled as his vision no longer worked, lifting his head up and cupping the dragons chin, he was not capable of understanding the strange vision, but he was glad his last sight would be of home.

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Io cried out in fear as her Hunter's hand fell from her head, Rider Eragon was beside her, looking concerned as Storyteller Brom did his best to stop the multiple lacerations and bruises on the downed Guardians body, but what Io was currently focusing on was her Void vision, showing her that the true wound was his Light, the life giving essence that kept him alive.

It was… the only word Io could think of was _blackened_ , his Light was covered in small wisps of Darkness, drowning out the spectacular culmination of his being, and Io felt herself truly become afraid.

 _"_ _Aiden… what has happened to you?"_ She whispered fearfully as healing words were spoken to fix her Hunter, but Io knew deep down, whatever had happened to his soul could not be fixed by tiny words of power.

Darkness had been festering inside of him for a long time, that was the only reason her Hunter could have had the evil force so ingrained into his core.

He had kept it from her for so long, and she would find out why.

But for now, her Hunter needed rest, and he would get it, but her questions would not be ignored, and Stitch would make sure she was getting them from her Hunter

 **Authors notes…?**

 **ArchAngel319: Your welcome, please enjoy this new one good sir or madam.**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Is it? It was my first time doing a mysterious being such as her, and I was afraid I balls'd it up.**

 **Hollydoor: Poor Aiden indeed.**

 **Azorin: Another one indeed!**

 **General ramblings.**

 **Okay guys, this one was reeeeeally dark, and possibly confusing, I'm honestly not too sure about this one to be honest, the ending was rather quick and unexplained, but I plan on addressing the latter in my next chapter, annnnd I figured I would get one thing perfectly clear to you all.**

 **Aiden is not invincible, this is not some Mary Sue story where he can steamroll any threat.**

 **I plan on completely changing everything about what happens in the Inheritance cycle, people will die, some may not die, and when you least expect it, I will pull the rug out from under you with something tiny from an earlier chapter that turned into a mountain.**

 **What I'm saying is, enjoy the peaceful ambiance while you can, dark days are coming for our hero, and there is no guarantee him or his friends will survive it.**

 **(This foreshadowing was brought to you by a terribly evil author, please stay tuned for our irregularly scheduled chapter publishing.)**


	9. A Soul Worth Fighting For

Unwilling unconsciousness was a strange sort of limbo for a Guardian, they did not sleep, they did not dream, they were only locked in their minds, stuck until their body once again decided to move itself, Light was one hell of a drug, but even the most powerful drug needed time to fix everything wrong with its host.

Aiden found himself inconceivably bored.

His first though upon emerging into his state of higher awareness was pain, pure and simple, not from the multiple wounds he had somehow received or the burnt flesh on his head, the true pain was inside of himself, surrounded by blackness that seemed to pulsate randomly, never stopping in one place for too long before it moved over towards a different section of his Light.

It hurt.

But he had held it for so long, that a little bit more of the damning evil wouldn't kill him. Yet, anyway.

What he really needed was to get up, escape from whatever place he was being held in, it wasn't death, the Hunter knew that much, but it certainly felt like a prison after being inside the void for whoever knows how long.

Suddenly, the void was replaced by a shimmering field of wavering water, the shifting between complete darkness and a sudden moving image had floored the Guardian, causing his addled mind to fall short and his "mouth" to flop open in surprise.

The image pulsated and morphed, never stopping in one spot until the liquid started to fall, shifting into a shape that brought many emotions to his mind, the leading one being a very unsteady flow of anger.

The liquid gathered together and formed the image of a certain Vex lady, whose smiling face quickly morphed into a frown when the Hunter she was visiting summoned Thorn from his mindscape and shot her still forming head off.

"That was quite rude" She grumbled as the Guardian continued to shoot the poisonous spikes into her body, realizing that the head was not a prime target anymore, although no weapon he summoned would really hurt her, it was still a rather large annoyance.

"Don't."

 _Bang_

"Care."

 _Bang_

"Gotta."

 _Bang_

"Relieve."

 _Bang_

"Stress."

 _Bang_

"Somehow…"

 _Bang_

"Are you done?" Vex lady asked as another spike drove itself into her chest, where several of them were quickly being disintegrated as their casters will stopped influencing them, that didn't stop the ones he was shooting from hitting her however.

"Gimme a second" He mumbled, before an Iron Gallahorn appeared in his grip, and suddenly the Vex lady had a very concerned frown on her face.

"I would like to inform you that hitting me with that would not be very wi-"

He hit her with it.

As the quality destruction of the Gallahorn did its work, Aiden willed a sunchair onto the ground and a pair of glasses upon his head, only giving a small sigh as he laid back and watched a very upset Vex lady try and reform herself into a semi decent image.

And boy was she upset.

Her body was pulsating at random intervals, and the area around her was beginning to steam with pent up energy, the Gallahorn round having did much more to her then she would have assumed, but even Oryx hadn't given the Gallahorn its respect until it opened up a large hole in his chest.

That reminded Aiden that he should really work on rebuilding his Iron Gally.

But when Vex lady summoned a very large metal foot above him, his thinking was quickly slowed as he saw her smirking face.

"Now I know what you're thinking." He said with a neutral voice, doing his best not to upset the God like being in front of him, who only raised her liquidy brow as she gazed at him with an insane amount of intensity

"Do I squish this helpless Guardian with a giant metal foot? Or do I forgive him for shooting me in the face with a small nuke?" He questioned, looking at the construct in some worry.

Her brow only inched its way up, and the foot seemed to waiver between hesitance and killing intent, but he was still alive, so that was cool.

"Now the answer might surprise you…" And while Aiden was very happy to give out the answer, Vex lady found it more important to squish him into a very red paste, which caused a lot more pain than it had any reason to.

"My everything…." Aiden whispered as his head took shape once again.

"That is why you don't shoot guests, especially ones who saved you from being consumed by your immortal enemy."

"You are like, a massive dick." She gave him a weird look.

"Like seriously, only Oryx was this much of a dick, and he was only that way to overcompensate for his tiny feet."

And, surprisingly enough, she laughed, it was low and humorless, but Aiden still gave a small mental cheer in pride.

"It has been so long since anyone has insulted me, I would wonder as to why you are so suicidal, but you Guardians fail to ever make sense, even those of you who are claimed to be intelligent." She said bemusedly, her tone was back to playful now, which was good, as Aiden did not feel like being squished by a giant friggin foot again.

"Why waste your life sucking up when you could die the next day and nobody would care? Why give respect to those who believe your some emotionless golem? Didn't make sense to me or Stitch, Vex lady." Aiden said quietly, his eyes locking with the woman across from him as several scenes of Stitch and himself fighting for the civilians of the Last City bloomed into being, each one depicting just how much the people feared them, how much they resented them.

Vex lady was quiet now, her gaze going somewhat unfocused as the Guardian showed her many of his life moments, even though she had already seen most of them.

Suddenly, she spoke, her voice was hesitant and somewhat afraid, as though she was committing a sin.

"Velandra…" She said in a whisper, watching the Guardians head jerk upward for a moment. "My name is Velandra."

Aiden opened his mouth for a moment, the playful attitude had all but disappeared, Velandra had never mentioned her name before, and he had not asked, it had seemed a bit taboo to ask of such a thing from a God, for whatever reason.

He closed his agape mouth, and he only gave a sigh, before he willed himself beside the woman and set a hesitant hand on her shoulder, careful to give her a reassuring squeeze when she tensed up at his touch.

"You always seem to be carrying this weight around, Velandra, I can see it with the way you move and talk, you can't live like that though, trust me, I learned a long time ago that living with that weight will only hurt you."

She sighed, before her head fell on the Guardians shoulder with little fanfare, his arm had to be repositioned to her back, but she seemed comfortable enough with it, so he let it slide and gave her the time she needed.

"Life is not the same for me as it is for you, Aiden. My people respect power and force, showing weakness, showing you _care?_ it will sooner kill you then help you." She explained quietly as she simply laid there, eyes closed and breath even.

"That blows then" he said simply, shrugging his good shoulder as the newly coined Velandra gave a snort, this one actually filled with some semblance of emotion.

"It blows indeed Aiden, truthfully, you are the only person to ever speak to me like this in my terribly long life, even your kind, you Guardians were too terrified to ever show disrespect, and my people… well, they did not care for what I thought of their actions." She explained lowly, her voice getting somewhat heated near the end when her people were mentioned.

Aiden blinked at Velandra when she mentioned her people, as far as he was concerned, Vex didn't have a people, so who was she speaking of? Some hidden group that had evaded the Vanguards notice until now? Aiden shook those thoughts off quickly, he had bigger problems to think on.

"What happened to me in that cave?" Aiden inquired, blankly looking around the void they were in as he tried to ignore Velandra tensing next to him.

"That… was no mere cave Aiden, you are lucky to have even been able to call me in the first place." She mumbled halfheartedly, seeming more hesitant now then Aiden had ever seen her.

"Can you tell me what it is then? If I ever come into contact with it again, knowledge would be helpful." The question came off far more hesitant than Aiden wanted, but he needed answers about what he found down there. About who he found down there.

Velandra sighed, before she stood with a flourish, almost making Aiden fall backwards from her sudden actions, but he caught himself before that, giving her a questioning look.

She walked into the void of his mindscape and seemed to hesitate, her figure was beginning to distort the air around her, as though she was suddenly scorching hot, the very ground beneath her seemed to heat up even, turning a brilliant shade of white instead of the endless black it had been before.

Velandra sighed, before all the heat built up into an inferno, and Aiden covered his eyes as fast as he could for when the massive wave of heat hit him.

When he uncovered his eyes, he found a sight that terrified him.

Aiden saw what the cave _truly_ was now.

He found himself and Velandra in a large open space, miles of cave filled with large crystal like shapes that seemed to draw in any light that they could, the walls and floor were drenched in a bubbling black liquid, within it was many old and ancient figures, skeletons preserved in some sick fashion as their bones were colored black, they were almost impossible to spot if you weren't looking intently at the liquid.

But what truly scared him, what made him fear for everything in the land he found himself in was waiting in the center.

It was almost beautiful in a way, filled with Darkness and small flashes of purple, Aiden could see very easily why he had been forced into that cave, why his mind had apparently succumbed to the machinations of the entity Velandra was showing him.

It was evil given form, an abomination that had taken the life from what might have been a great intelligence, twisted it and turned it into a fierce demon, something that could end him in but an instant, it was everything he had feared for Io every time he ventured into the Darkness

It was an Ahamkara.

Aiden's mind swirled, his vision started to waiver, and Velandra gave what sounded to be a shout of concern, before his vision completely disappeared and his body hit the now cooled floor with a thump.

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Aiden's body, his true body, jerked up with a shout of pain, his arms and legs were aching, his Light was drained, and Io was in the process of cleaning his cuts before he scared the Void out of her with his sudden scream.

Was she cleaning his wounds with her tongue?

His body hurt, his head did too, and the only thing that kept him from falling down and trying to sleep was the fact that Io was next to him, looking nothing like the hazy beast he had been shown by Velandra, and before the slightly taller Ahamkara next to him could find that memory, he buried it away.

 _"_ _Aiden!"_ Io shouted, her voice carrying concern, relief, and strangely enough, rage.

"Io… please keep it down, my head is killing me." He responded quietly, achingly rubbing at his aforementioned head when a rather vicious pulse of pain hit him.

Io's reptilian face only twisted into a frown, her eyes promising a swift fury for a deed that Aiden could not honestly determine, and with a swish of her tail, she walked off towards a small camp behind two massive boulders, the night sky was in full view and the stars were shinning in the sky, the scene was completed with some discarded bags, a glorious view, and three sets of familiar eyes watching him.

Stitch was there too, so that was a thing.

While Brom, Eragon, And Saphira watched him like hawks, Stitch made his appearance in Aiden's mind again, going deep into his memory and finding what had been hidden from Io, and all that Velandra had said.

Stitch was silent as Aiden slowly got up and tried to stand, he knew his Guardian had been through something terrible, but everything that his Hunter had seen was on a different level from anything that was expected, it almost hurt to even see what that place truly was.

Finally, Aiden made it over to the others, where a very cold looking stew was sitting in the dark, with no fire, which was the height of folly, unless his friends were being chased by something.

 _"_ _Friends?"_ Stitch asked in surprise, his emotions coming in quite clearly to Aiden, surprise, confusion, and a small bit of happiness.

 _"_ _Yes, friends, and I think it's time that I told them a few things…"_ Aiden said lowly, his voice was calm and collected, but even he could not hide the massive hesitance he found himself feeling when the thought of revealing what he truly was came to mind.

 _"_ _Aiden, you might want to wait a bit, while you were out, a lot happened, and the Ra'zac might be hunting us."_ Stitch said hurriedly, his voice careful and low to not disrupt his Guardians sudden eating, who was draining the soup Eragon had put out for him with gusto.

 _"_ _What did you guys get into? Geez man, I leave for a few days and you manage to blow everything up."_ Aiden complained as the cold soup finally hit his stomach, leaving his belly filled and his body somewhat content with the offering, even if it was cold as Coldheart.

Io smacked him with her tail, which now held a lot more spikes then last time, and instead of coming up to his hip, she was now at height with his food filled stomach, and her wings had also grown by a huge amount.

He ignored the feeling of pride he felt when he saw her, and instead looked directly at Brom, who was also starring back with an unreadable expression.

"What happened while I was gone?" Aiden asked.

And he was told.

They had all escaped from Teirm and made good time to the supposed location of the Ra'zac, the decrepit and old home of evil religion called Dras-Leona, a tangled mess of buildings that supported slavery, cannibalism, sacrifice, and other such evil things.

Aiden hated it immediately.

Before they had went into the city however, Aiden had appeared before Io in a flash of light, blinding them until they could see just what had happened to his body, and from what Brom had said, it was not pretty.

Multiple cuts and bruises, a strange black liquid coating many of his objects, and his sword Quickfang cut in two from what appeared to be heavy force that neither Aiden or Stitch could explain, not to mention what had happened to his very essence.

After some vague story about how Eragon had escaped the Ra'zac and their spies, they fled the city and ended up here, where they got to the point of telling Aiden about their struggles, and then that was it.

Aiden simply sat back and sighed, while fighting the Ra'zac would have happened sooner or later, he wished to have been there to at least help the poor boy hold them off, from the way Eragon had described it, he had barely escaped with his life.

The Guardian sighed, simply sitting in silence as he contemplated all the had happened, finding the cave, running for his life, and finding the small ball that held within it a soul, one that must have spent years being tortured. Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny fist sized stone, its Light was dimmer then before, but Aiden could feel the joy it was radiating, it was free for the first time in what could have possibly been hundreds of years, and it deserved to be happy. He smiled, more for Io to see than anything else, he was long past feeling any kind of happiness while thoughts of the Ahamkara plagued his mind.

It had been massive, reaching the top of the cave with ease, its form had been a mixture or faded grey and dark purple, and while it could have been mistaken for a dragon of the strange land they were in, Aiden felt a presence emanating from the beast that not even Oryx could hope to match, malice, anger, resentment, fear, and so many other dark emotions that it was no wonder the Darkness had found it so easy to infest the Ahamkara. Io did not need to see what might well be the last of her kind, especially considering just how much evil intentions the thing gave off just by existing, Aiden would avoid telling her for as long as he dared.

" _What happened to you Aiden?"_

Said Guardian sighed and shook his head, he turned to stare at Io, and she did the same, never once taking her glittering eyes away from him, as though he would disappear.

 _"_ _You don't want to know Io, trust me when I say its better off being buried."_ He severely hopped she would see his despair, that she would understand just how much talking about this would hurt both of them. She did see it, how pained this topic would make them both, but she pushed on, she needed to know.

 _"_ _Will I have to bury you with it?"_ Io said, her tone dead and her eyes still.

Aiden's head jerked to her, catching the attention of Brom, Eragon, and Saphira, but he was only focused on her, and the pure nothingness that flew from her side of the Link.

 _"_ _Will I have to watch my Hunter take on the burden of the world again? Will I have to watch him hold up the whole of humanity and cry as everyone uses him? Will I have to watch as he slowly fades away because people refuse to treat him like a human instead of a weapon? Will I lose my best friend because he won't tell me why he hurts so much? why he keeps his darkest secrets away from the person who bet her whole life on him!? WILL I!?_

Aiden and Stitch stopped, they both were shocked at the raw emotion on her face, the fear, and especially the self loathing, her eyes were filled with unshed tears and her chest was heaving, she was trying her hardest to not cry, to stand firm.

She felt as though she wasn't important to them.

Aiden lunged at her and fiercely held her, picking up a few dozen pounds of dragon and sending all the thoughts of peace and happiness he could at her, showing her so many memories and feelings, showing her exactly how much she meant to Stitch and himself.

She was crying now, her tears covering large portions of the Guardians clothes with salty liquid, but he held her all the same, he had not meant for this to happen, for her to feel this way for so long, but he wouldn't let her fall into the dark, he would give her what she deserved.

Starting with the truth.

Aiden gave Stitch a mental nod, and he waited patiently as he unlocked a specific set of memories, ones that had been blocked from Io for a long time.

He let her see.

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 _Aiden stood warily, his armor was scorched, his body was filled with bullets and sharp objects, and his Light was gone, nothing but a small ember keeping him from the world of unconsciousness, he could hardly stand, much less hold the hand cannon in his palm, but he stepped forward on wobbly legs anyway, he needed to finish this. The Traveler hung above him, glowing in an aura of Light, the casing that covered it was gone, obliterated with a power Aiden had not seen before, it had been magnificent._

 _He continued past the shell shocked Cabal, not one bothering to acknowledge the Hunter, they only stood transfixed on the broken god before them, for the first time, it seemed like they understood the magnitude of what they had captured._

 _His legs failed him halfway up the ramp, and Thorn fell from his grasp and landed with a dull thud on the red Cabal metal, he was hunched over and his energy was nearly spent, but he needed to go, he needed to get to the Traveler. He was crawling, trying his hardest even as Stitch told him to stop, that he had saved the City, that everything was okay._

 _Not until he got to the Traveler._

 _A small bone dropped from his hand, clutched so hard the armor around it was dented, and Aiden swore, scrambling to retrieve it, to get her back._

 _A hand reached out and grabbed it instead._

 _Aiden jerked upwards, grabbing dully at Thorn even though he knew very well he could not fight like this, and once his sights landed on the offensive hand, he saw a very familiar arm attached to it._

 _"_ _Need a hand Guardian?"_ _Cayde 6 asked nonchalantly, his arm was back, his Light was back, and he held her in his hand, either unaware or uncaring of just how much he held in his palm._

 _"_ _Give her back…" He whispered, his voice ill prepared for anything else._

 _Cayde rolled his eyes, before he held his hand out for Aiden to grab, and after a moment's hesitation, the downed Hunter did, and Cayde held him up the best he could, but the younger Hunter was trying his best to make the arrangement as hard as possible for the Vanguard leader._

 _Aiden ignored whatever snarky comment he would have come up with, he was only focused on one thing now._

 _She wouldn't die like this._

 _He forcibly grabbed the fragment from Cayde's hand, and with a shove that felt like moving a mountain, Aiden pushed his former leader away and started limping up to the aura of power the Traveler was exuding, and a small part of Aiden's mind noticed that the Traveler appeared to be… alive._

 _"_ _Io… I'm coming."_

 _Cayde was no longer with him, and Aiden was fine with that, because his goal was right in front on him, and with a quivering hand and an anxious soul, he touched the being that made everything he was possible, the one thing in all of the universe that Aiden respected more than anything._

 _When his hand met the warm metal shell of the Traveler, a pulse of warmth spread all across his body, spreading from his head to his toes and bringing with it a sense of peace Aiden had never felt before, it was a feeling that only two people had ever given him, but one was missing._

 _He extended his mind towards the Traveler, hoping, praying, begging that it would hear him, that for one time in his retched existence, the Traveler could give him something for everything he had sacrificed, something that would tell him all of his pain meant something, that he wasn't just fighting for an ungrateful god._

 _That Io wasn't gone for nothing._

 _Aiden gasped as soon as his mind comprehended what he was seeing, the Traveler was a massive construct, but what he was feeling was not a machine nor a creature, what he was seeing and feeling was a pure and unmatched being, something so immense that not even Stitch could comprehend exactly what the two of them were feeling._

 _The Traveler was awake, and it, no… She had her eyes on them._

 _"_ _Hello Aiden."_

 _His mind was fuzzy, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, the power he was feeling, any of it, so he fell to his knees instead, the simple act brining pain racing up his spine._

 _The Traveler was speaking to him._

 _"_ _Most guests are star struck, although you appear to be a little shell shocked as well? Too much Light usage I believe?" The Traveler shrugged, it did not have any visible form, but Aiden got the distinct feeling it had shrugged._

 _"_ _Io…" Aiden mumbled, trying his hardest to stay awake, he needed to stay up, for just a bit longer._

 _The Traveler seemed confused, before she waved her hand and Aiden felt a small pressure in his mind, a feeling of warmth spread across him, almost lulling his nearly ruined mind towards unconsciousness, but Stitch reminded him quickly why he was here, why he needed to stay up._

 _He held up the small fragment of bone towards the Traveler, his arm was shaking and it was a wonder he had even managed that, but while his strength was immense, it failed him soon after, and the bone clattered noisily to the floor._

 _Aiden fell forward, landing on his hands as his breath hitched, he couldn't stand it anymore._

 _"_ _Bring her back…" He whispered, his voice was scratchy and choked, emotion and adrenaline the only thing keeping him from crashing right there, yet still the Traveler stood there, not offering anything but a distinct feeling of curiousness for the downed Hunter._

 _He waited, and when he found no noises being made, he looked up._

 _The Traveler was not focusing on him, wasn't even using a small percent of her massive consciousness to pay attention to him, she was only staring at the City, at the home she let be destroyed, at all the lives she had let perish._

 _A growl came unbidden from his throat, and Aiden barely had time to think before Thorn was aimed at her, and the indistinct figure suddenly had a massive metal spike inside of her cranium._

 _She only twisted her head sharply to meet his gaze, and she only found rage in his eyes._

 _"_ _BRING HER BACK!" He shouted, doing everything he could to keep Thorn held steadily, appearing weak now would not help her, it would not bring his friend back._

 _She only smiled, her face was no longer sporting a spike, but Aiden did not care, that smile told him everything he needed to know._

 _The Traveler didn't give a damn._

 _"_ _You have no need for the dragon Aiden, she is only a tool, something that was needed for you to advance in this world, and now that she is gone, you can finally unlock your true potential." She smiled once again at seeing his horror filled face, before she continued. "I am truly sorry for your loss, but as long as she is there to bind your power, you cannot be the defender you were destined to be, and I cannot allow someone like you to lose the very thing that makes you special."_

 _Aiden dropped Thorn, Stitch didn't even bother making a comment, because they both felt the same thing._

 _Heart wrenching pain._

 _The Traveler left him to his grief, all too happy to walk away and fix all the problems her slumber had caused, she ignored everything behind her, the rage, the pain, and the spark of power that she had caused to ignite into a burning flame._

 _Only when she felt an intense flash of heat behind her did she finally look and see what had happened._

 _Aiden stood there, his armor was the same, his weapon was the same, but instead of a weak flicker of Light inside his chest, pure Arc energy was covering every inch of his body, his normally calm and joking attitude replaced with cold hard anger._

 _He growled, and before the Traveler knew what to do, the Guardian was in front of her with a terrifyingly massive staff._

 _"_ _BRING HER BACK!" He yelled, the fury in his words alone was enough to shake the mental landscape she had put up, and if she had not been experienced with overpowering foes, the Traveler might have felt a hint of fear at the beast she had created._

 _Instead, a barrier of pure Light sprung up between them, blocking off the fierce power that Aiden had summoned, and giving her a moment of respite._

 _"_ _I cannot Aiden, my power is too weak, I am not as strong as I used to be, think boy! Only one thing can save her now, and it is not me." She reasoned loudly, insuring he would hear her over the deafening shouts of rage, she was slightly fearful now, the power he was using would destroy him If he was not careful, and she could see no way out of the situation except for a compromise._

 _"_ _How?" Aiden asked, his tone was unpleasant, but he was not attacking the Travelers barrier anymore, and that was enough for a moment of peace._

 _"_ _You are strong, stronger than any other I have gifted with the Light, but the power you wield now does not come from me, it is the power inside you, and if you were to give up some of this energy, if you were to give up a piece of your very soul. Then it is possible for your Ahamkara to be brought back."_

 _Aiden halted himself, the energy around him was unbelievably strong, giving both Guardian and Ghost tremors with just how much energy they were pouring out, and while it was a distant feeling, it was bringing him pain to use this strange power, but he discarded it, he had higher priorities._

 _"_ _How do I do it?" He growled, he had no power in this situation, but he was doing everything he could to make it seem like he did in fact have the ability to smite the being that he had spent years mindlessly defending._

 _"_ _It is a painful method, you will lose something of yourself that you cannot get back, and there is no telling what could fester in the hole you would make of your soul. The chance of survival is slim should anything particularly violent gain hold." She explained patiently, she was understandably concerned, but while she could potentially disarm the Guardian before her, it would weaken her already dwindled power, and she could not afford to go into hibernation again._

 _Aiden however, was not deterred, his voice came back once again, a growl that had the desired effect on the Traveler, a slight hesitation that was quickly covered up. "How do I do it?" He repeated, not backing down even as his body slowly began to throb with a rather peculiar soreness._

 _"_ _Simply give me your friends remains, and hold on to me, I shall handle the rest."_

 _Aiden hesitated, Stitch did as well, what they were planning could very well kill him, Stitch had a high chance of being fine, But Aiden was going to be giving up a part of himself, a part that might kill him, there was no guarantee of success._

 _He looked down at the bone in his hand, the only reason he had even cared enough to get this far, the only reason he had ever cared about living, one of the only beings aside from Stitch that he would give his entire being up for. He had talked about giving himself up to save either of them, and now was the time to prove it._

 _He made his choice._

 _With a gesture, Aiden clutched onto the Travelers hand, and gasped in pain when he felt a mind numbing cold spread throughout his body, moving through his veins and blood, chilling him down to his core until the feeling of cold turned into a blistering pain that slowly but surely cut into his soul._

 _He screamed then, it was the only thing he could do, it was not the scream of a human or Guardian, it was the scream of an animal who found itself in unspeakable pain, and the analogy matched well, because Aiden was on the ground growling and panting as energy seemed to poor out of him. Stitch could only watch in worry as his Guardian slowly lost his ethereal glow, and the radiant power surrounding him dimmed to a small glare._

 _Stitch felt part of his Guardian slip away into the bone he held, he watched as suddenly a new Link was born, as Aiden and his mind both connected to a familiar conscious, a conscious that had died, and for the first time since the Red War started, Stitch felt hope._

 _It took only a few minutes, but Aiden was down and out by the time it was over, and on his arms rested Io, her bones restored to their resting place and her mind returned, and Stitch could only marvel at how complete the restoration was, just from looking at her muddled mind he could tell she was restored, her cognitive abilities not at all hindered._

 _Aiden was down, his mind and body in turmoil, and Stitch felt the aftershocks hit him as well, his Guardian had given a large chunk of his soul away, and he lived._

 _He ignored everything else, the Traveler waved her hand and suddenly they were in the Last City, Ikora, and Zavala jerked their head sharply upon their sudden arrival, but Cayde remained unfazed, as though he expected it._

 _Stitch only set himself down on his Guardians head, and for the first time in eight hundred years, he fell asleep._

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Aiden sighed as Io gazed at him in a mixture of anger and sadness, both emotions whirling inside of her until she decided to just give up and hug her Hunter limply, tears spilling from her face even as she tried to hold them in.

 _"_ _You couldn't remember the City's fall because you died that day, your mind had become so dependent on my Light that when it left… there was nothing left for me to save."_ He whispered, clutching Io like a lifeline as they both silently cried, the other members of the group wisely deciding to leave them to their moment.

 _"_ _W-why do you keep protecting me?"_

Aiden looked down at the crying dragon, eyes full of many emotions at once, each one almost enough to send him over the edge.

 _"_ _W-why do you keep giving me s-second chances?_ She stuttered, head quivering as she buried herself in her Hunters cloak.

Aiden only sighed and held her tightly, before he whispered one sentence into her ear.

"Because I love you."

Io only gasped before her crying renewed, she had known it for a long time, that he loved both of them, but to hear him say it, to finally hear the person she respected, no, the person she loved say those words sent her over the edge, and she cried not in sadness, but in joy.

Aiden sighed, laying against the large boulder they were using for cover, and he simply sat and listened as Brom spoke up after Aiden gave him a nod, confirming that the moment was done, about how the Ra'zac worked best during night, and how shifts were to be taken to avoid any surprises.

Aiden gave a grunt and lifted himself up, letting Io slowly slide down against the rock as he sat himself facing towards the camp, listening as Brom made plans for who was taking what watches.

Only, Eragon was not really listening, he was standing near the edge of the camp looking out into the darkness, and Aiden almost thought he saw a brief flash of moonlight being reflected back at him, but he shook his head when he could not find any movement out in the wild.

 _"_ _Aiden, DUCK!"_ Stitch yelled fiercely, the only warning Aiden had when he felt an overwhelming presence appear behind him, along with the small noise of air being displaced by a weapon.

He blinked towards Brom, who also had a dark shape behind him, and saved the old storyteller from a massive headache with a swipe of his newly acquired dagger which he had pulled from his boot, making the figure leap backwards with inhuman speed

That did not stop Eragon however, and Saphira was well versed in showing her displeasure when he was knocked unconscious by the same shadowy figure that had almost taken down Aiden, said Guardian stopped himself from materializing Bolt caster when the cloaked person held a black dagger to Eragon's throat, the threat was so heavily implied that there was no other way to intercept it.

Move, and he dies.

So he didn't, Saphira and Io both stopped their growling as soon as the figure pulled the blade, even Brom stood stock still with a look of anger and fear in his eyes, whether or not that was because Eragon was hanging on the edge of death or because his life long goal of training a new Dragon Rider had a chance to be stopped was not something Aiden had time to think on.

Aiden felt the second figure move behind him, and when the foul smelling beast opened up his mouth and forced in some form of liquid, he did not fight back, he only glared murderously at the one holding Eragon, hoping that looks alone would simply disintegrate whoever dared to touch his friend.

Once the liquid had traveled all the way down his throat, the person behind him pulled out something large, and the last thing he was aware of before a massive metal object impacted the back of his head was Io looking on in anger and worry.

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Saphira's massive heart was pumping and throbbing, feeling as though the weight of the world had suddenly dropped on her shoulders, her eyes were frantically looking between Aiden, Brom, and Eragon, as soon as the male members of the group went down, all hope of saving them became very low, especially since the foul smelling monsters had tied up her wings and claws, making escape without injuring any of her companions near impossible.

Saphira's tried to calm herself, Io was also being restricted, and the Night-Walker-Ra'zac where binding Aiden up, the one human she could say with certainty would be able to rescue them from this situation.

She did not doubt Brom or his skills, but when it came to Aiden, Saphira had always thought that Brom could not fend off the Young Wolf, even in the old storytellers prime, the young warrior always seemed to know what to do in any situation, and his connection to his partner was simply astounding, although it somewhat irked her that Io and Aiden had somehow had a much stronger bond then her or Eragon, but right now, she would do anything to see the small dragon next to her smile fondly with memories of something her Rider had said.

The foul smelling Ra'zac caressed her snout and she shivered, trying her hardest to avoid snapping at the creature that held her fate in its terribly wrinkled claws, she needed to be smart now, Aiden or Brom were not awake to stop the monsters from hurting her Rider, and Io would suffer just as much if she made a wrong move.

So Saphira waited, hoping that some kind of miracle could pull them from the edge, because she could see no solution to the grave danger they were currently in.

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Waking up from unconsciousness twice in the span of a day was not fun, waking up to find you were bound and your armor was missing was somewhat crappy. Waking up to find that someone had tied up your favorite dragons and was currently threatening two of your friends? That was not going to fly.

With his limited movement or speaking options, Aiden assumed he was bound and gagged, and the cold feeling of metal on his wrists and dirty cloth in his mouth only confirmed that he was in a less than favorable situation.

Aiden silenced himself quickly, returning his breathing to what it was while sleeping as Stitch sent several light speed thoughts and images into his mind, giving his Guardian a rough idea of all the shenanigans that the revealed Ra'zac had done.

The Ra'zac were distracted, busy making very thinly veiled threats against 'the old one' which were not appreciated, while Eragon was being held very close to a knifes edge, Saphira and Io were both growling lowly as the second Ra'zac examined them, its black eyes glinting much more maliciously when they landed on the younger dragon.

Both dragons and Eragon were silenced as well, Saphira and Io with expertly made snout covers, they looked to be specifically made to hold large and dangerous animals mouth closed, and Eragon was simply tied with a few ropes and a cloth inside his mouth.

 _"_ _They know I'm the real threat."_ Aiden sent to Stitch, wincing internally at the feeling of discomfort he felt when trying to mentally communicate.

One of the Ra'zac with a slightly scarred nose was walking towards Aiden now, its dagger was held in a threatening manner, yet Aiden did not care, the thing seemed to know he was awake and playing dead was not a solution to the problems they were facing now, so he opened his eyes and steeled his expression, betraying none of the rage and slight fear he was feeling.

The thing came within inches of his face, its breath causing the Guardians eyes to blink slowly while the rancid smell hit his nose, the odor was almost as strong as a full grown Captain after weeks of death, and Aiden gave a small smile when he made the comparison of how similar the feeling of driving a knife into a Captain would be compared to a Ra'zac.

Said Ra'zac did now take well the humor it could not see, so Aiden received a swift kick in the stomach that made a loud crack.

Aiden's breath hitched for a moment as Stitch quietly examined the wound from his sanctum inside the Inventory, and it did not sound good.

 _"_ _Three cracked ribs, punctured lung, and heavily bruised stomach area, that thing packs a punch."_ Stitch replied angrily, his tone was enough for Aiden to try and somewhat cover up the pain his chest was in, he had experience blocking out mind numbing pain.

The Ra'zac seemed only more displeased with the downed Guardians lack of a response, but before it could make the injuries fatal for him, the second Ra'zac intervened and stopped its companion, although with the way it was speaking Aiden couldn't very well hear the exact words.

They left the Hunter be and instead went over towards Brom, who was starting to join them all in the world on consciousness, and the Ra'zac looked to be marching toward him with less than pleasant intentions.

His struggles became frantic when the two beasts pulled a knife, Brom was waking up now with the commotion, and Saphira and Io were doing their best to rouse him further, shaking and thumping their bodies against the ground, even Aiden was frantically pulling at whatever Light might have been inside him, but he couldn't reach it, the liquid they fed him and the constant overuse of his powers made it so forcing through to grab it might well be fatal.

Aiden pulled at the binds on his arm with everything he had, ignoring the stinging pain of his skin being torn by the metal binds, he needed to get up now, but the damn cuffs wouldn't let him.

 _"_ _Brom! Get the hell up you old fool!"_ Aiden shouted desperately in his mind, the words not even going beyond his head before dizziness swallowed him, talking with someone who wasn't Linked to him hurt with the damn poison inside, but he had no choice.

With all the shaking he was doing, Aiden somewhat managed to get the cloth out of his mouth, which was the exact opportunity that he needed to shout.

"Brom! Get up now! Stop taking a nap AND GET UP!"

Brom's eyes jerked open for a moment, hazed and confused, but he saw the dagger well enough, and he did his best to move out of the way, but Aiden knew deep down what would happen, the knife was to close and the Ra'zac far too fast for him to avoid it.

Everything slowed for Aiden as he watched that knife plunge towards the old man's chest, all other thoughts drowned out, and when it came close enough to pierce his chest, Aiden closed his eyes as a brilliant light exploded across the clearing.

Aiden blanched, his vision obscured by the brilliant Light, the Razac were no better, hissing and clawing as they made motions to scatter into the night, Aiden could not see, but he felt the footsteps carelessly stepping towards him, and he shivered when a very familiar voice sounded from above.

"Looks like I found you, yah had to make it difficult, didn't you?" She said, voice smug.

Aiden simply sighed as his vision slowly cleared and he found himself staring at a very unappreciated sight, specifically, a certain Shade that was somehow even more evil looking while the moonlight illuminated her pale skin and blood red eyes.

"Well fuck."

 **WOOOOOOO! AUTHORS NOTES!**

 **Hey guys! Guess which story happened to get 500 followers?**

 **Not mine, but I did get 105 recently, so that's awesome. But seriously! Thank you guys for supporting this wacky inflatable arm flailing story, because whooo all the love makes me feel good. This chapter amps up the feels and suspense to 11, like, I was originally going to have Aiden whisper "Because you would do the same" into Io's ear, but then I watched Pokémon the movie, I choose you! And had a massive emotion trip. Ps. Holy hell was that movie amazing.**

 **Although more reviews and likes would be awesome too. Anyway, let's get on with our regularly scheduled comment reading.**

 **An Anonymoose: I usually only like those kinds of stories if they add some form of consequence for the MC and their actions, like if they go all Super Saiyan and blow up a planet that they are severely punished for their OP bull. That kinda thing.**

 **ArchAngel319: I'm honestly not even sure how I'm doing what I'm doing, I usually just write what feels good and check for errors once I'm done, aside from some high school crap, I have not ever written anything like this, I'm glad you enjoy my mediocreness!**

 **Hollydoor: Yea, Aiden's a real softy once you get past his severe PTSD and emotional baggage. And thanks for the compliment! I honestly don't know if my writing skills are that good, but its nice hearing praise for something I put my heart into.**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: That is actually pretty close to the main thing, except instead of the cave doing it, it's a fifty/hundred foot tall/wide dragon that can probably destroy a planet if it wanted. (Still not sure how big I should make this sucker)**

 **SethisawesomeGT: Only figuratively? That's not good enough! You shall be so far on the edge of your seat you might as well be off the seat! So say I weird author guy! (Glad you enjoyed the chapter)**

 **D3rpman1015: Listen, I have no knowledge of said Red vs Blue reference, and if anyone questions the legality of said reference, know that I have no lawyer, but I am very good at arguing at people.**

 **B.C Imperator: thank you for the care of Io, she really needs it. And trust me, I love typing this story, especially when I get the awesome power trip that comes with having the fate of an entire world in your hand! And just a friendly foreshadowing. This is not the end of scary or gruesome, I'm gonna make this story totally unsafe for younger audiences!**

 **Guest: Velandra (Vex lady) has her moments. And Io may or may not differ from Inheritance cycle dragons, but that's not for me to say.**

 **PS! Longest chapter in the whole diddly darn story! LIKE AND REVIEW FOR MORE EPIC CONTENT!**


	10. A Shade Has Joined The Party

"Well fuck" Aiden cursed.

The Shade only raised her brows at his rather blunt statement, and while it was certainly amusing to see the human that had outsmarted her in such a vulnerable position, she calmed herself, the man was more use alive then dead.

Said man only gave her a very heated glare before he awkwardly staggered upwards, cautiously shifting around her as he went over towards the crumpled up old man with a dagger neatly inserted into his chest, puncturing one of his lungs if she got the correct measurement of the blade those ill tempered Ra'zac had left behind. Turning to look away from the dying man, the Shade gave a whistle into the darkness outside of the little camp, hoping that her "partner" was still lurking in the shadows, because it would be a shame if he ran away when she was distracted by the Ra'zac.

Lo and behold, the boy came out of the darkness, his eyes slightly cautious and hair unkept, so the same as most humans, except he carried the look of great turmoil within, as tempting as it was to simply break through the boy's mind and figure out what exactly could cause that amount of anger to manifest, she reined herself in, killing an innocent in front of the supposed goody two shoes behind her would not help her in convincing the poor sod to assist her.

While the Shade was busy talking to whoever it was that had came into the camp, Aiden was swiftly contemplating all the variables of Brom's survival after having his lung punctured and pumped full of blood, Normally if a Guardian suffered a crippling injury, they either had their Ghost heal them, or they simply killed themselves, first aid training was drilled into every Guardian that joined the Vanguard, but most of them didn't bother keeping medical supplies in their Inventory because they would never be working with people who would need such life saving medicine.

Aiden and Stitch severely regretted not getting supplies from Angela.

 _"_ _Stitch, give me some info here man."_ Aiden mumbled darkly, ripping off a piece of his cloak and carefully stuffing it around the dagger to try and slow the massive flow of blood.

 _"_ _You might be able to redirect the natural flow of Light to his wound, but it would only help the surface problems, and it damn sure won't be able to heal him like you."_ The Ghost replied anxiously, searching through all of his limited knowledge of how normal people treated knife wounds to the lung.

 _"_ _I need more then that Stitch, what do we have that can save him?"_

Stitch stayed silent while Aiden continued to attempt to treat the old man, the magic words of healing were at the forefront of his mind, but every time Aiden attempted to call upon the energy needed to power the words, his mind drew a blank and he could no longer feel the mystical power, even if his Light told him it was there.

 _'_ _DAMN DRUGS!'_ He shouted restlessly, keeping the thought from both Io and Stitch as he contemplated ways to stop the damn bleeding.

Stitch suddenly gave a mental equivalent of a shout and transmitted several ideas and plans to Aiden, one of which offered Brom a small chance of survival, one of which Aiden was glad to grasp on to.

Aiden jerked his head towards the Shade who was standing with her little friend, watching him struggle to save Brom passively, not an emotion in her eyes other then a curiousness, as though she was trying to figure something out about this situation.

"Hey you! Either help or fuck off!" Aiden shouted out, getting up and swiftly making his way towards where Saphira and Io were being held, having Stitch summon the still broken Quickfang to cut through the stubborn chains holding the two drakes down.

"Saphira, can you breathe fire yet? Any flame at all?" Aiden questioned quickly as he and both dragons rushed over towards the struggling Brom, who had gained more lucidity then before, which would not be a good thing if he realized there was a dagger sticking out of his chest. Saphira shook her head quickly, eyes alight with panic as she watched the life blood of her friend pool out unto the dirt beneath him, she was scared and nervous, because her hearing could pick up the faint beat of her friend's heart, it was going far to slow for her liking.

The blue dragon only shook her head sadly, her eyes downcast as she struggled to keep herself from growling in rage at the fact that she could not even summon up a small spark of fire, and judging by the way Aiden himself was growling, he needed the fire that only she could provide if his magic was still locked away like Eragon.

 _"_ _Stitch! My Lights out and I need something to cauterize the wound otherwise he's fucked!"_ Aiden muttered fiercely, holding his hand on to the bleeding wound to try and slow it down, but large clumps of the red blood were dripping through his fingers, staining the ground and his arms with the liquid.

 _"_ _Aiden, the Shade knows magic!"_ Stitch pointed out, voice just as rushed as his Hunter.

Aiden paused, going still as he whipped his head back towards the Shade who was still sitting there and staring, lips quirked upwards as the Guardian finally realized who in the little camp could stop the bleeding.

Aiden growled lowly, before he stood and pointed towards Brom with his blood covered hand, the message was clear, but she only stood there while raising her eyebrows at the clearly irritated Guardian. She only stood there with her man friend, who was looking between the Shade and the dying man with uncertainty.

"Fix him. Do your freaky magic bullshit and save him." Aiden growled, voice sounding more akin to an animal than a Guardian of the Traveler, but he did not care about his appearance, Brom was dying and the only one who could hopefully fix him was being a bitch.

"Say please sweetheart, and maybe ill consider it." She taunted lowly, voice on the edge of sarcasm and mild interest, and Aiden gave a start as he realized that the damn woman was _mocking him_.

Aiden instead summoned Fatebringer and held it up dangerously, just because he could not imbue his weapons with Light didn't mean that the hand cannon he held wouldn't blow her brains out.

They both sat still, her hand tensing in order to prepare to throw a hidden dagger from her sleeve, while Aiden slowly tensed his hand in order to shoot her before the knife hit him.

 _"_ _Please just save him!"_ A quivering and extremely familiar voice shouted out, stopping both combatants short of ending each other's lives. Not that either would die fully, but it was the thought that counted.

Saphira was sitting there, her eyes on the brink of tears and her mind filled with panicked anger, she had spoken with authority, but both Shade and Guardian could see that the dragon was almost on the edge of full blown rage, something neither of them wanted to happen.

The Shade growled before she left her place to move beside the struggling old man, moving her hand towards the knife and, before the pesky human could stop her, jerked it out while a spurt of blood rushed out of the newly created hole. She heard the muttered cursing and the sounds of a click from behind her, but she paid no heed to that, and went about using the words of healing in the Ancient language.

The wound itself wouldn't take away nearly any of her strength, but the blood flowing inside the old mans lungs would certainly take a lot of her power to get rid of. The thought of leaving the poor man to die had of course entered her head, but she needed him alive if she was going to ever speak on 'friendly' terms with the human that attempted to kill her with what looked like darkness given form.

She would have to try and learn how he did the things he did in the courtyard, but for now she had a job to do.

It took her several minutes of concentration to get rid of the blood inside the old mans lungs, while healing the dagger puncture was child's play for her, the only thing the man would have to worry about was the likely chance that the Ra'zac used their favorite tool for killing. Poison. Only when the wound was but a scar and the blood was no more did she stand to her full height, causing the Guardian behind her to back away with his arm raised.

The Shade nodded before moving towards her traveling companion, careful to avoid brushing against the Hunter and his strange metallic leg, giving a small nudge while passing by the nearly unconscious Dragon Rider to make sure he was dying on the ground, the young one seemed fine, so she left him alone

Only when she was against one of the two large boulders did she relax her posture, twirling a dagger as she silently leaned against the large rock, smiling at the looks she was being given, and the topic of conversation she was about to bring up.

"So, got any room for some extra travel friends?" She asked casually.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"What? I need to sleep just as much as you do."

"No, the fact you're even asking to travel with us after trying to murder me makes me think your screwed up in the head."

"Hey, that wasn't me! It was the other one in there!" To emphasize this point, she tapped her skull with a finger.

Aiden silenced the retort before it could come out of his mouth, even listening to the girl left a bad taste in his mouth, but… A glance at Brom and his pale figure was enough to make himself curse, the only one who could use magic for at least a few more hours was offering to travel with them, and the chance that the old storyteller might relapse and catch a case of death was not something the Guardian was willing to risk.

So he slammed his fist into the nearest tree, and gave a single shaky nod before be went over towards a small pool of water and began to wash his face.

"Set up away from our camp, if you try to come close to us without my permission, I will know. I don't care if you accidentally stumble in here half drunk, I will obliterate your entire body with no second fucking glance. Now go, I really don't feel like burning you alive." Aiden growled lowly, making his voice loud enough to be heard over the deep breaths of Brom, who was starting to become awake.

The Shade left with a bow, grabbing the young man along with her to an area that was about one hundred feet away from the original camp, and once she was far enough away, Aiden let his guard down and had Stitch set his motion trackers to full range. He did not want any more surprises tonight.

 _"_ _How's Brom?"_ Aiden questioned Stitch.

 _"_ _He's stable for now, but that could change at any time, even magic cant fix all the problems that getting stabbed brings."_

 _"_ _What's your opinion on the matter?"_

 _"_ _That we are damned lucky she showed up when she did Aiden."_

 _"_ _The bitch almost killed me, she was pretty keen on it too, why the hell would she come back here to save me?"_

Stitch was silent after that, it seemed to Aiden that not even he could understand the motives of the girl, but neither Ghost or Guardian had time to focus on the peculiarity of the matter, because the Ra'zac would definitely be back, and they needed to be gone before then.

 _"_ _She said someone else was in her head…"_

Aiden glanced behind him to find Io sitting right next to the small puddle, starring forlornly into the night sky, and he winced.

 _Traveler damn it._

Io had seen Brom get stabbed, she had seen her friend almost get murdered, and Aiden hadn't even thought of checking up on her. He cursed himself profusely in his mind for being so uncaring about the person who was linked to his soul, before the little drake could become even more sad, Aiden reached over and put his wet hand on one of her back spikes comfortingly.

"Io, I'm sorry you had to see that, and if you want we can talk about it all later, but right now we need to get everything ready to leave. Can you try and get Brom and Eragon up?" Aiden asked the hesitant dragon.

 _"_ _I-I guess I can."_ She mumbled quietly, before sulking away towards the previously mentioned humans, Brom himself seemed to be up and about, if groggy, but Eragon was basically out cold, it was quite surprising that the youngest member of the group had been the last to wake up.

 _"_ _You know we can't keep letting her experience these things."_ Stitch replied in a very none helpful manner.

 _"_ _No shit sherlock, we spent maybe three or four years trying to protect her from it, I know I can't let her experience it, but this damn journey is only throwing us right in to the thick of things."_ Aiden sighed, before dragging a hand down his face slowly. _"What can I do Stitch? When I joined up with this band of misfits I expected nothing but political drama, not actively going after what are probably the most powerful figures in this whole damn country, and to top it off, all the years we spent keeping Io away from this shit is rapidly being blown apart. What the hell am I supposed to do Stitch? Because I have tried my fucking hardest to keep her innocent, to keep her safe. But now I can't even protect her from herself…"_

Stitch was silent again, he knew exactly what his friend was feeling, they were connected on a spiritual level, the pain, shame, and anger that Aiden was feeling were all rebounding to Stitch, and while they certainly amplified his feelings, the little Ghost still did feel the same for Io.

 _"_ _Aiden, we both knew we wouldn't be able to save her from this life we live, the fact that you tried for so long is astounding, but you have to realize at some point that you can only give so much before your all tapped out man, I know that Io is important to you, she is for me too, but if you keep stressing out and putting yourself in unnecessary danger… then Io may not have a Rider to turn to at the end of this."_

After Stitch was finished speaking, the clearing they found themselves in was quite aside from the rumblings of Eragon, Brom, and Saphira, but in his own little world, Aiden could only hear the words that had been spoken to him.

 _Io may not have a Rider to turn to at the end of this._

He clutched his face with both hands, drawing in a long and tired breath, before he stood up and walked off towards the rest of his group.

They didn't acknowledge him until he was searching through Io's bag, finding the gear he had stashed there just in case anything ever came up, random assortments of transmat beacons, emergency rations, and some spare helmet transceivers for the times when silence was key, Aiden skipped all of those and instead went in for the real prize.

A glimmering orb of Light was sitting in the very bottom of the bag, a keep safe just in case Io ever found herself in need of Light for her Void eyes, while Stitch could have easily produced one for him, Aiden did not like being flashy with his transmat abilities, he needed to have some edge over any potential opponents.

When he held the glowing orb safely in his hand, Aiden reached down into a pocket on his greaves and pulled out a small blue glowing glob, containing something far more valuable than Light.

Inside was a soul.

Aiden grinned meekly as the orb flickered in recognition, seeming anxious and excited as the Guardian slowly drew power from the Light orb and swiftly moved it into the soul's eager embrace.

It lit up like a Dawning tree, temporarily bathing the area in a bright Light that blinded the dragons and Eragon, Brom had wisely decided against looking at the bright objects in the middle of night, and he avoided being blinded.

But not even Brom could keep his patience up for long, and he turned towards the Hunter holding two balls, one glowing fiercely in the dark, while the other was slowly disintegrating into nothing but dust, that soon disappeared as well.

Aiden smiled as he felt the little soul trill in happiness, its life force restored tremendously by the small spark of the Travelers Light, and Aiden almost felt a phantom voice filter up into his mind, but it seemed the young soul was still too weak to respond in words, so it only sent over small pulses of happiness that put Aiden's mind at ease.

"At least someone's happy…" Aiden muttered silently, not caring if some of the more hearing inclined of the group decided to pay attention.

Aiden turned around to meet the gazes of his small group of friends, putting the content soul back in his pocket before he held out his hands in a relaxed gesture and gave a big grin, the contrast from his previous emotions were hard to see, and only Stitch knew that just moments before, his Guardian had been feeling a sadness far deeper than usual.

The Ghost did not question the reasons why, he did not even let Aiden know that he had felt it, he only kept silent as he prayed to whatever entity that decided to put them on this road that his friend would still be whole by the end of it.

 **Hey guys, sorry and stuff.**

 **As you know, life is stressful, I honestly try and keep my update schedule to once a week or once every two weeks, but sometimes I find myself too busy or stressed, or just with no motivation to write at all. Sadly, this was one of those times. I honestly tried to make it as long as I could, but I have a lot of writing things going on, trying to figure out what to do with my first story, trying to decide on whether I should publish a new story, and how I can make this plot go on without being super cliché.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this short update.**

 **Hollydoor: I will have you know my confidence is very high good sir.**

 **sethisawesomeGT: Becoming a dragon would be quite cool, but I would rather not resort to Aiden guy becoming some badass Sol breathing dragon. Or… maybe an Arc breathing dragon…**

 **An Anonymoose: HA! Aiden's entire life is one constant mess after another, he basically lives with it at this point.**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: Pocket spirit bro is still here, and he might play a role later on. Or he might die, I haven't decided yet.**

 **ArchAngel319: I enjoyed that flashback, it really paints Aiden in a desperate light, instead of his usual aloofness I wanted it to seem like he was at the edge of his rope and I believe I succeeded. And I absolutely needed Io to have a scene where Aiden would reveal just how much she means to him.**

 **P.S Please do share this story with others, review, like, follow, it means a whole lot when I know that people actually like something I work hard to produce, have a wonderful day guys and gals, and as always.**

 **Don't do drugs.**


	11. Fate's Unraveled

Aiden and the group had pretty much packed everything they would need for travel, the lone Guardian did not believe that the Ra'zac would be back in any sort of timely manner, but he knew that they would be back, and in greater numbers. The creatures had been cocky when they tried to take them out, and if not for the Shade standing several feet away from the entire group while Brom did his best to incinerate her with his stare, then they might well be in an Imperial prison.

 _"_ _Stitch I swear if you make a Star Wars reference I will punch you."_ Aiden said simply, the poison was slowly starting to wear off, and with it came greater communication between Rider, Dragon, and dumbass Ghost.

 _"_ _All I'm saying is if we have to rescue a princess I will say I told you so."_ Stitch replied fairly, making Aiden snort, the little Ghost was actually being serious.

 _"_ _Fine, but you only get to say it once, and no recording it either! I'm not going to have another one of your schemes blow up in my face if we get back to the Tower."_

Stitch and Aiden's good moods instantly evaporated when the latter mentioned the Tower, it had been a simple slip of the tongue, but both felt the mood sour when their former home had been mentioned. Neither of them wanted to think on it.

"Hey Io, got your bag ready?" Aiden spoke aloud, trying to peak over the large blue dragon blocking the view of his little dragon friend.

 _"_ _Yea! Im ready when you guys are!"_ She responded back, including the whole group in the broadcast. Even, to Aiden's eternal ire, the Shade.

Aiden nodded anyway, before looking out towards the group that were all unanimously starring at said Shade and her boyfriend, Eragon himself was more interested in talking with the kid, named Murtagh or something like that about hunting, seeing as how both held bows and experience killing animals. Aiden found it rather funny when Brom almost blew a blood vessel when his young student walked directly towards the Shade to introduce himself.

"Alright, seeing as how everyone looks ready, lets get going before those Ra'zac show up and ruin our day." And they did, Brom needed to be lifted on to Saphira so he didn't open up any new wounds, but so far the only complaining he did was when Aiden announced that the Shade was traveling with them, and while the Guardian did agree, nobody in the group was even close to regaining their magic, so it was either that or leave him to die.

You can guess how quickly Brom shut up after Aiden said that.

The trip was well underway, Eragon, Brom, and Io were riding on Saphira per Aiden's suggestion, in the off chance Saphira needed to carry more than two passengers, it would be a good idea to build up her stamina now, even Brom agreed to the Guardians sound logic, with some unheard grumbling about him taking over the group.

While Saphira was high in the sky enjoying the wind, Aiden, Murtagh, and the Shade were all traveling across the plains in the dark, pushing the horses that had been so helpfully provided by a bit of thieving on the girl's end.

Aiden had almost wanted to argue against getting on one of the four legged animals, but he realized that speed was of importance, and he could not waste time by running at a slow enough pace to keep up with them, so he conformed to hiding his true nature once more. Giving the Shade any more info about him was unacceptable.

 _"_ _You could ask her what her name is you know."_ Stitch replied offhandedly, he had high doubts his Hunter would actually listen to the sound advice he was giving out.

Aiden of course dismissed the words offhand, but after a moment or two Stitch was surprised to find that he was actually thinking on it instead of completely forgetting about it, which was a massive surprise for him.

"Hey Shade, what's your name?" Aiden called over the wind rushing past them, starring at said Shade while she gave him a look of bemusement.

"I don't have a name, my creators did not see me fit to have one." And just like that, she was done, no explanation, no fanfare, just that she had no name.

Stitch found it hilarious that the one time his Hunter attempted to make conversation he was practically shot down instantly. Aiden wanted to scowl at his Ghost, repeatedly muttering 'this is why I didn't talk to you' in his head until Stitch got the point and quieted down.

"Alright, but what do I call you if calling you a Shade wont work?" Aiden grumbled out annoyedly, trying his hardest not to give up on talking all together and just go back to the way things were before Io came along.

Stitch didn't like that particular thought, and made sure to voice it to his Hunter with a strong pulse of emotions that basically equaled a sternly worded letter to a kid's parents, or at least that what the little Ghost thought the effect might have equaled when Aiden simply shrugged his metaphorical shoulders.

"Whatever suits your fancy, I would recommend Shade so it does not impede on your already strained mental processes, and it just rolls off the tongue. Nothing better than watching your enemies squirm in terror when they realize they are being targeted by a Shade."

And with that creepy note, she stopped talking again, letting her fairly disturbed companion Murtagh and Aiden stew in their looks of confusion and slight unease, although the Guardians look was because of the name she had given out. Calling herself Shade when she was in fact a Shade? And Stitch thought the Iron Lords was a cliché name.

"Shade is such a backwards step in logic that I'm not even going to bother arguing about it, but if that's what you want then go ahead, I'm not gonna stop you." Aiden replied in a straight forward manner, looking ahead so he could spot any approaching travelers from down the road.

Silence reined king for a long while after that, Aiden began to feel slightly at home in the almost ever present void of sound, the only thing that could make it better was if Stitch actually stopped trying to figure out all the conflicting emotions inside the Guardians head.

He knew his Ghost was only trying to help, but there was only so much the little guy could do when so much stress and emotions were being thrown at him, the power he held had always brought out the worst situations, and Aiden knew that this time his power would ruin whatever peace he might find. He felt it in his very bones.

But he continued riding in silence, blocking all of his thoughts from Stitch and Io, enjoying the peaceful moment of riding with the wind in his hair and the feeling of calm in his soul. Because like all good things, Aiden knew it would not last for long.

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Io and Eragon were both sitting peacefully on Saphira, Brom having decided that staying awake was not worth his time, so he settled down in a relatively still spot and fell to sleep, leaving both dragons and Rider with nothing left to do but talk.

And talk they did

Eragon brought up many subjects, the Ra'zac, dragons, elves, even a few rumors he had heard of dwarves that caught Io's attention, all of them she responded to with interest and attention, but her main thoughts were mainly on her friend.

Aiden was… different since he came out of that cave, his temper seemed to be higher, and whenever she connected with him over the Link, she felt a lot of dark emotions, he had even gotten ready to yell at Brom for complaining about the Shade joining them. All and all, Io could certainly see the difference, hear it to with how vulgar he was becoming.

Stitch probably noticed it too, but she kept the feelings from him too, she didn't need to cause either of them more stress with how hard they seemed to be working their minds, although she still couldn't figure out what exactly they were doing in their heads, she knew it probably had to involve her.

It should have annoyed her, but she knew they wouldn't try and do it to hurt her, so she didn't hold it against them, she just wished that sometimes she be included in their plans, with her new body and rapid growth spurts, she would one day be bigger than her Hunter if Saphira's size was any indication.

Speaking of Saphira, the little dragon's chest started to beat faster at the thought of her, she was special to Io, probably the only creature in the world who knew about what she was feeling and what it was like, being the last of your kind, and she was rather pretty. That thought caused Io to blush, her face heating up a bit as she hurriedly looked around to make sure nobody was watching her.

She started to giggle lowly, wondering why she was feeling self conscious all the sudden, it wasn't like Aiden or Stitch could hear her, she was blocking off all her thoughts, but hearing herself say it and believing it were two different things, so she spent the rest of the flight trying to not think about anything other than the wind in her wings and the freedom of flight in her soul.

She got her wish, no more strange thoughts interrupting her, the only thing the took the young dragon out of her musings was the dragon she was currently riding attempting to tap on Io's mind barrier in a motion similar to knocking on a door.

 _"_ _I have found a cave that would hide us well, can you inform your partner?"_ Saphira asked sweetly, making Io's chest start to tighten a bit, but she ignored it for the moment.

 _"_ _Ill tell him right away."_ Io cut off the connection, trying to hide the feelings of embarrassment that had probably been sent over the small Link the two had created, it was nothing like what Eragon or Aiden used to communicate with their partners, but it allowed for a closeness that normal friendship could not bring. Of course in this case Io was thoroughly cursing it.

Io grumbled a bit in her mind for the strange euphoric feeling she felt, and instead did as Saphira had asked, attempting to save some dignity by hiding her emotions from her Hunter and that pesky Ghost Stitch.

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 _"_ _Saphira found a good place to camp out."_ Io said quickly, hiding out her emotions as best she could while Aiden scratched his head in confusion for a moment before shrugging it off, if Io was hiding her emotions then it wasn't really his business to ask why. Io would tell at least one of them if she were in trouble.

"Hey! We found a place to hide out, so follow me!" Aiden shouted towards his horse traveling companions, navigating towards where Aiden could somewhat see Saphira landing, near a fairly large hill that he could certainly not see from the ground, which wouldn't be all that effective if the Ra'zac had a flying beast as well, but sometimes you had to take your small blessings.

Murtagh and Shade both nodded along and feel into a trot behind him, Aiden was of course hesitant about this arrangement, but he held his tongue, they did not seem to know where to go, and just because they were behind him did not mean they held any sort of advantage should they attempt to betray him.

It did not however keep his hand from securing Fatebringer from his leg holster. You could never be too armed after all.

The group made it to where Saphira had spotted fairly quickly, Aiden could not actually see where they went, but he felt Io's mind and quickly started to climb up the large rock face when he got off his tired mount. He did not particularly care if the other two could climb, he wouldn't wai-.

With a thud and a grunt of effort, Shade jumped up to one of the handholds below Aiden, propelling herself until she was level with the amused Guardian, who gave a tilt of his head upwards as though to ask for a race.

Shade only grinned, before she threw herself upwards, grabbing onto another hand hold while also trying to find the next. Aiden was slightly surprised at her playful attitude, but it had been a long time since anyone had challenged him to a race, so he gave a small grin and leapt upwards as well, leaving behind a flustered Murtagh and three horses.

Only when they got to the top of the small hill did Aiden flinch a bit, something about the place seemed strange, not in the evil or bad way, just in a sense of wrongness, as though something was to have happened here, but he could not decipher what.

"Hey slow one, hurry up and start climbing, I don't have all day." Shade said irritably, having won the race rather easily once the Hunter stopped to examine whatever he was staring into the distance.

Aiden flinched again before quickly jumping upwards without the use of his boosts, quickly making it to her as the feeling or wrong returned once more, only it was strongly pointed towards… Brom?

He was laying on the floor, not in pain or hurt, just sleeping, but something was floating around him, displacing the air and wind. Aiden could faintly hear several voices whispering in the corner of his mind, but he kept it all quiet, nobody seemed to be able to see whatever was happening around the old man.

 _"_ _Stitch, what is this?"_ He asked quietly, neither Io or Saphira seemed to see it, but Stitch was in his head, he had to have some idea, and Aiden was not disappointed when he did.

 _"_ _Its some kind of… Fate displacement? I can't really put it into any words you could understand, but something happened that changed the Fate of what looks like Brom, its only happened to you once or twice, in the Vault of Glass and on the Dreadnaught."_

 _"_ _When we fought Atheon, and found Io?"_

 _"_ _Yea, those ones went away quickly, but I don't understand why it would only start around Brom here, unless…"_ Stitch stopped, the implications very troubling.

 _"_ _He was supposed to die here…"_ Aiden finished.

Brom was meant to die? Aiden had thought that his presence would disrupt things, but what he had done was much more than that, he had apparently changed Fate, spit in the face of the cosmos and everything it was made of, were the distortions around Brom results of his interference? Or was it whatever web of events rewiring themselves into a future where Brom did not die? Neither Aiden or Stitch would pretend to understand what they had just done, but they did understand it would not be without consequences.

 _"_ _Aiden, what do we do? Atheon was the only one we have ever known to be able to manipulate Fate, and that was only inside of their dimensional bunkers, you just did something that should be impossible, no Guardian has ever changed something like this."_

 _"_ _What about Io?"_

 _"_ _Io was only revealed to us because of Oryx, Aiden. A God who broke Fate isn't very big, but you doing it? You may be a Guardian but even they haven't been able to save people from dying when it's their time, whatever we just did has probably thrown everything into whack."_

Aiden sat himself down beside Brom, feeling the currents in the air that none of the others seemed to see, Eragon was currently resting against a small section of the admittedly large cave, while Io was nuzzled up against Saphira, who seemed to be feeling a mixture of cute overload and nervousness, Aiden could not tell which.

"We screwed up big time didn't we?" He whispered quietly, rubbing his face into his hands as he slowly let his back fall down the smooth sandstone walls, trying to keep himself from breaking out into either uncontrollable rage or hysterical crying.

"I think you did rather well for a human." Shade said, startling Aiden with her close proximity, he hadn't even given her a glance when the news had been dropped on him, only focusing on his raging thoughts and how screwed up his life had become.

"Whatever you say Slim Shady." Aiden quipped, not caring about Stitch and his metaphorical face palm, or Shade's confused look.

"By the way, we need to have a talk." He said quietly, glancing around to find Eragon attempting to help Murtagh get the horses into the cave.

"About what?" Shade asked, suddenly serious.

"Why you helped me, after what I did I had figured you would be trying to kill me, not assisting me against the Empire."

"Why do I have to have a reason? Couldn't I have don't it out of the goodness of my heart?" At Aiden's blank look, she sighed, before plopping down uncomfortably close to the Guardian. "Truth is kid, whatever you did to me that day really screwed me up, big time."

Aiden blinked a bit, before he started looking at her body to try and determine any injuries that might have been hidden, but after a few moments he could not find anything aside from a small scrap that was showing on her leg.

"I don't see it." He said plainly.

Shade grunted before hitting her head against the smooth wall behind her softly, before she groaned rather loudly and fell down into a heap on the floor.

"You screwed up my soul or something, whatever you did forced all the other spirits into some kind of hibernation, usually I hold a grudge or try and kill whoever hurt me, but you did something not even Galbatorix could do. You got rid of them, you stopped the voices that have tormented me for years on end with nothing to stop them. And surprisingly enough, I find myself indebted to you."

Aiden blinked and struggled to comprehend what he was hearing, the Void did not do what she had described, he had hit so many Guardians with it that he knew personally its effects, there was no soul tearing, no silencing, just a small debilitating Void snare.

So how was it possible for the bow to do that?

 _"_ _Did… did Velandra do this to me?"_ Aiden wondered to himself, Stitch was paying attention as well, probably searching through his limited data to find any event that sounded like this one.

"I can't tell you why it happened, I can't even begin to understand how it would work." Aiden said quietly, still staring at the crumpled up pile of lounging Shade that had still yet to move.

 **She will be a great ally.**

Aiden silently flipped the invisible voice the bird, and did his best to not show how aggravated he was when the damn thing decided to show its ugly head, metaphorically speaking. Although Shade did seem to notice his tensed posture, because she decided to comment on it.

"You seem different, before you were very… naïve looking, you did not seem to take many things seriously until you summoned your lightning. Now however, you appear almost ready to punch the nearest object."

Aiden about told her what she could do with her opinion, but he restrained himself when feelings of concern also started to come in from Stitch, and if his Ghost was noticing something, then maybe it was worth looking in to.

Although… another part of him only wanted to shut out the damn Ghost, to make it pay for always letting him take the pain.

Aiden's eyes widened tremendously, feeling the pain of cold steel biting into his hand, bringing a fresh sting of pain and blood, something that Shade immediately took notice of.

 _"_ _Stitch, did… did you hear that?"_

His Ghost wasn't sending over any emotions, but he did send words. _"Aiden, something is wrong with you, we need to figure out what happened down in that cave."_

Said Guardian hated how much he had to force down the anger at those words, it was so unlike him that he almost felt disgusted, he had never gotten mad at Stitch like that, not even when the guy had touched his collection of bits and bobs.

 _"_ _I think your right man… I need to take a break."_

Aiden walked away, practically feeling the stares on the back of his head as he silently made his way over towards the deepest section of the cave, he had so much to worry about, Fate, Brom, Shade, and to add in his sudden increase in temper? It was beginning to become too much to focus on at once.

So he set himself down on the cold wet cave floor, and immediately made himself go to sleep, not caring if it would cause havoc with his system, he needed to be released from the waking world, even if for a bit.

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 _The climb was harsh and the air was barely breathable, Aiden had to stop and cover the girls mouth once or twice when a passing patrol of Cabal wondered through the halls, Aiden and Stitch were barely managing with their mental states, Stitch could send thoughts over somewhat, but they were incomplete and indecipherable. Talking was unacceptable in this place._

 _The halls were covered in sot and blood, the occasional corpse hung up with holes in various places, each one becoming more and more grotesque as Aiden moved forward, he almost threw up several times throughout the journey when he saw a few recognizable faces amongst the horror, Guardians he had fought and died with finally laid to rest._

 _He grit his teeth and pushed on, their was no time to grieve, getting Io was his top priority at the moment and he needed to stay focused in case a Cabal patrol came through, just because they were invisible did not mean they couldn't be heard._

 _Aiden stopped and strained his damaged senses when he heard a small sound at the edge of his hearing, it had sounded like a thud of something heavy hitting the ground, whether or not it was a Cabal boot or a piece of falling rubble wasn't something he could decipher in his weakened state._

 _What he did know was that his room was close by, and Io was going to get rescued._

 _A faint odor reached his nose before he caught sight of the source, his body almost recoiling as the full weight of the stench hit him like a Jumpship going FTL._

 _Aiden's tired body almost gave up right then and there once the terrible power of the smell hit him, he recognized what it was instantly. Fellow Guardians and himself had made mounds such as this when they had come into contact with staggering forces of Fallen or Cabal. When they had slaughtered dozens, and left them to be fed upon._

 _Aiden found himself shaking, the thought of seeing what he knew to be there was causing him to almost turn around and walk away, leave and never return. Even in all his years of killing, he knew that seeing it again would do. He knew._

 _But he walked towards it anyway._

 _The bodies were still warm, blood still flowing, armor ripped and shredded much like his, the only difference being the person inside of it was still alive, still breathing._

 _He covered the girl's eyes and walked as fast as he dared, breath heaving and eyes blurring as he did everything to get away from the mound of bodies that almost filled up the entire hallway, pieces of cloth and small datapads lay broken and tattered on the floor._

 _Aiden stumbled a bit as he heard a sound from far above him, and the sound of something falling from a great height and squishing down onto the great pile gave the Lightless Guardian a momentary scare, but he resisted looking at the pile and instead turned his gaze upwards._

 _A single Cabal Centurion was carelessly hefting up the body of a Titan, her armor scorched and battered while a Cabal blade stuck out of her throat, appearing to have been torn off of whatever Red soldier's gauntlet she died too in her final moments. Aiden shivered as the Cabal threw the fallen Titan onto the mound of bodies with a casual flick of its wrist, uncaring for the life that it had most likely ended._

 _Aiden's blood boiled as the urge to draw the Traveler's Chosen mounted, he knew that at such a long range the gun would be useless and that to shoot it in enemy controlled territory would spell his doom, but a part of him wanted to end the things life immediately, damn the consequences._

 _A whimper from the girl clutching on to his back made Aiden's hand halt its steady advance towards the sidearm, he shook himself and slowly started to walk away, the invisibility wouldn't last long, and he needed to get to Io before that happened, otherwise everyone would die._

 _His room was in the next hallway, and he creeped up to it as quietly as he could. Cabal were never known to loot randomly, but Aiden was not about to risk everyone on the off chance a random Red Legion soldier decided to go against the entire Cabal religion just to score a nice pair of guns._

 _His room was closed, so that was a good sign in the Guardians eyes, but he still needed to be quiet and cautious. Opening the door sounded as though a bomb went off in the silent halls and Aiden flinched violently when a loud ding rang out after the door was fully open, shifting his head around violently to make sure nothing had heard him._

 _Aiden sighed lowly, before quietly making his way in to the room and gently closing the door, once that was done he set the girl down on his recliner and took off towards the bedroom, practically zooming through the small apartment until he laid his eyes on the gauntlet that carried Io._

 _They were in the exact place he had left them, her bones not disturbed in the slightest, so with a wave of joy he reached his mind out towards the conscious of his greatest friend and awaited the inevitable feeling of connecting his mind with another being._

 _But nothing happened._

 _Aiden blinked as his mind washed over Io's consciousness and found nothing, no bright flare of a soul, no scared mind wondering what was happening, nothing but cold dead emptiness. Aiden started to shake as he gently tried to reach into her mind once more._

 _But nothing happened._

"Io…?" _Aiden questioned shakily, his mind practically filling with a dread never felt before this moment, even Stitch was frantically moving about as he tried to comprehend the same thing his Guardians mind refused to accept. They both scanned over any piece of Io that they held, searching for anything to indicate she was still there._

 _But nothing happened._

 _Aiden dropped to his knees, his mind uncomprehending as his body started to violently shake and seize up, nothing could stop him as everything he had ever feared started to come true before him. Not even the girls scared and shaky voice could break the trance he was in, she even attempted to shake him out of his stupor._

 _But nothing happened._

 _Aiden started to sob, tears falling down his face as a wave of sorrow washed over him and Stitch, both were wracked with unimaginable grief, trying fitfully to grab any shred of her mind that they could find, any method or reason to bring her back. They both shook and screamed in their heads to shake her awake, to try and bring back their friend._

 _But nothing happened._

 _And both Guardian and Ghost lost themselves to the agony._

 ** _Authors notes._**

 ** _People knew it would happen, I revealed her death ahead of time, yet it still shakes me to kill her off like that, and I hate that I have to put them through such a terrible death._**

 ** _Anyway, I decided to make a new fanfiction based in the Pokemon world, if you want an adventure filled with drama and suspense like this one, feel free to check it out if you would like, its called Humanity Lost, a story about a girl who becomes a Pokemon trained by a ruthless god._**

 ** _Back to the authors notes we go._**

 ** _ArchAngel319: Thanks Arch, glad you enjoyed._**

 ** _An Anonymoose: Changing the story so dramatically is not going to go over well with Fate, something Aiden will soon find out. Aside from our Guardians act of terrible consequence, Brom's death taught Eragon a lesson nothing else could, somehow I will have to make him learn that lesson in my world._**

 ** _Potato man the semi omnipotent: Shade's have always been stressed by everyone to be super evil, aside from the stories that have a Shade becoming a companion, they are always these major emo people who say lines like "I'm gonna eat your baby!" I wanted to change it up a bit._**

 ** _SethisawesomeGT: Im taking as long as I need to get these chapters out, but sometimes im just not into it as I'm sure fellow writers will understand, I'm glad you understand that I'm not at all of my follower's beck and call, so thanks GT._**

 ** _(P.S. Not saying any of you have give me a reason to think that.)_**

 ** _As always, have a good life and don't do drugs, otherwise Shade will find you._**

 ** _(Shade) Its true, I will find you._**


	12. New Dawn (Part 1)

Truthfully, the sandstone cavern made the morning sunrise even better for the sleepy Guardian, its rays were hitting him in just the right way to take away the bite of the wind while also keeping him at a cool temperature, he was almost lulled back to sleep from how peaceful everything seemed, key word being almost.

Stitch was currently having a fit about some benign thing or another, Aiden was doing his best to listen, but the landscape and the view was taking away much of his attention from the irate Ghost, who made it very clear that he was speaking of important matters.

 _"_ _And do you know how hard it is to fix the damage you have done!?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _"_ _Years of trying to keep your soul from exploding and you ruin all of the work I had done in a single day!"_

 _"_ _Yep."_

 _"_ _You had to leave on your own, didn't you? I never should have let you talk me into your dumb plan, if I had only stayed you would be fine! Not reduced to this critical of a level."_

 _"_ _Sorry."_

 _"_ _Sorry!? You almost died in there! If Velandra hadn't taken you out when she did you would have died Aiden, do you understand that? You. Would. Be. Dead!"_

 _"_ _Sorry."_

That last remark seemed to make Stitch even more angry, his emotions were clearly spilling over their Link, Io was looking up at him occasionally when Stitch had a particularly violent case of 'I'm going to murder my Guardian' and Shade also seemed to feel the rage coming from his direction, although she couldn't see who was producing it.

 _"_ _You are lucky I was able to catch it this early, if you would have told me you used that much Light you wouldn't be in this situation."_

Aiden sighed and readjusted himself on the cliff edge he was perched on, trying to take in all the sights before they had to move on and attempt to get away from the Ra'zac, who were no doubt tracking them as they attempted to find rest from the ordeals of last night. Brom was well, or as well as someone who was supposed to die could be, and the whispers of contempt and destiny were no longer as ever present as last night, Aiden and Stitch could still feel them, but they held their distance for a reason neither could understand.

Eragon was nearby with Zar'roc, Murtagh had nearly had a heart attack when the young rider had pulled it out and started to casually sharpen it, even Shade raised a brow and tensed her body by a small margin, Murtagh however was the one to explain the dark, dark history behind the sword and who its owner was, which made Eragon very hesitant to keep the tainted weapon anywhere near him.

Brom instantly came to the young boy's aid, explaining why he held the sword and many other things Aiden could not truly comprehend in his current state, he did acknowledge them and store the information for later, but he did not really understand anything.

"Can I buy a bagel?" Aiden suddenly asked, the question so random, so unexpected, that Stitch lost all of his anger and words.

 _"_ _W-what?"_ Stitch spoke up after a few moments of compiling all of his available information to determine if his Hunter was insane.

"Well, do the people here even have bagels? I mean, after the Collapse we kinda lost a whole lot of food stuff, I'm wondering if these guys have those legendary Earth bagels Cayde kept yapping about." Aiden replied easily, thinking back to the simple times when Cayde only ever asked for bagels, a supposedly amazing food that he never revealed how to make. His demands for random things only got more and more elaborate when the Cryptarchs came out with that flame starting crystal.

 _"_ _Aiden, I don't think Cayde actually knew what a bagel was, I'm pretty sure nobody knew what a bagel was."_

 _"_ _Well that sucks, I guess it could be worse though, at least we didn't lose pizza."_ Aiden shivered a bit.

Stitch rolled his eye and sighed a bit, before he gave up on the prospect of convincing his Guardian on how dumb and unplanned his little idea was, some things would never change, and that was Hunters being stubborn fools.

Although he did note that no other Hunter was as mindlessly stubborn at seemingly random intervals such as his, the Ghost decided to focus on the here and now.

 _"_ _It's clear we won't be able to stay in the open for much longer, the Ra'zac have seen us and they could scry any member of our group at any time."_ Stitch reasoned quietly to himself, letting his presence flood over towards Io so she could be included in the conversation as well, Aiden probably would not care in his current state, So Stitch did not really focus on him.

 _"_ _Where can we go? Almost all of the country is controlled by Galbatorix and I don't think he would let two Dragon Riders live in his cities…"_ Io sent back a bit dejectedly, her mind busy thinking through several situations.

Aiden, in his seemingly absent minded state, brought up a topic that nearly everyone had forgotten.

"The Dawning started yesterday…"

Stitch and Io turned towards Aiden with a bit of reluctance, they did not need to check the link to know Aiden was currently reminiscing on days past, his voice carried a familiar weight to it, a tone he only really used when his mind was elsewhere.

Getting kicked out of the City was a hard enough blow to all three of them, they understood exactly why Zavala had to do it, if one Guardian got special privileges than others would stop obeying the rules, and the City did not need a repeat of what the Risen attempted to do in the early years of the City.

What Zavala was immediately reprimanded for was choosing the worst possible time to get rid of the Towers best Guardian, with the resurgence of Osiris and the Dawning season a few weeks away, almost any Guardian that saw exactly why Aiden abandoned his post were noticeably upset.

 _"_ _You decide to get rid of him when the Dawning is this close!? After all he has done for us, done for the City!?"_

Aiden cracked a hollow smile as that memory washed over him, Cayde was understandably upset, but Ikora was borderline furious, the person who had shown her what it meant to be a Guardian, who had become her friend, was being forced out of his home, she denied it, she attempted to fight it, but several faction leaders had demanded it, and Zavala was forced to agree.

"We should celebrate." Aiden said vaguely, but his partners all knew exactly what he meant. "These guys don't seem to have the Dawning, maybe we should introduce it, give them a reason to remember what they have, and all that they could lose."

Stitch and Io thought on it, the underlying emotions were there, but Aiden would only bring this up if he wanted it to happen, and while it wasn't snowing or anywhere near winter, the Dawning didn't have to be a snowy season, you just had to give thanks and remember what you fight for.

Io was the first to agree, anything that could cheer her Hunter up was a good thing, and so she scampered over to his side and gave his armored stomach a nuzzle.

 _"_ _Let's do it, we could even get gifts for everyone!"_ She said happily.

For the first time in a few days, Stitch saw Aiden give an actual smile, it was only a small upturning of the lips, but Stitch knew that this one held far more warmth then any of his previous ones.

"Alright Io, but you're in charge of finding out what everyone likes, although be cautious around Shade." Io beamed at him, before she once again trotted off to have some conversations with everyone, Stitch stayed by necessity and curiosity.

 _"_ _Why did you bring up the Dawning?"_ Stitch asked curiously.

 _"…_ _."_

 _"_ _We never celebrated it out in the wilds, and you only really ever gave Io a good view and me a new shell, you have had plenty of time and opportunity to do it with some of the Guardians that didn't hate us."_

 _"…_ _."_

 _"_ _Aiden I'm jus-"_

 _"_ _We all need something to believe in Stitch."_ Aiden said suddenly, cutting off whatever the Ghost was going to say.

 _"_ _I don't care about the Dawning, it's a holiday that was made for someone that isn't me, I don't have any City to protect, I have nothing that I want to remember, and I certainly don't want to try and think about all the people I have lost."_ Aiden paused for a minute to make sure Io was not hearing any of this, and once he confirmed it, he continued. _"The Dawning is a mockery to everything I have ever done, and the only reason I even cared was because of Io, because of just how much it helped her believe in something again. You and Io believe in the Dawning, it is the time of year where you can forget, rejoice, and celebrate, I never had a chance to give her or you any real gifts, but now that I'm here, I can try, I can make the holiday worth believing in Stitch."_ And he stopped, he laid his head back and left Stitch to think on everything that had been said.

His Guardian had been becoming more and more melancholy since he got out of that cave, usually he tried to crack a joke or two and lighten the mood, but all Stitch could feel from his Guardian was a constant buzz of disinterest, only Io and himself seemed to drag him out of his stupors, the Guardian didn't even flinch anymore when Shade came too close, a drastic change from his guarded stance whenever she came near.

Stitch knew that his Hunter was suffering from some form of mental problem, one could not live the life they had and not have some negative side effects, but even when Aiden had gotten his soul split in two the Guardian always found a way to bounce back, to drop his bad mood in an instant, and to bring cheer to those he met, now though… He was just sitting there, gazing into the distance with a far off look, he looked so strange without any emotion on his face, so much so that Stitch shivered in his tiny space of Inventory.

Stitch hoped that Io could help alleviate whatever was hurting their Guardian, otherwise the little Ghost did not know if they would make it through.

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Io was ecstatic, no, she was simply overjoyed. The Dawning had always been her favorite holiday, aside from Holiday that is, and while the past few years had only given her a small moment of celebration, Aiden made it seem as though everyone was getting a gift, even Darkness User Shade!

Gifts, Rider Eragon seemed to have an attachment to his bow, so Io jotted that down in her mental notes, Scholar Brom liked old things and books, Stitch probably had lots of those, the only one she really had trouble with were Murtagh and Shade.

They both gave her strange looks when she asked them what they liked, Murtagh gave her a nondescript answer that didn't really give her any information and Shade simply shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't like anything. Io of course scoffed, but the Shade named Shade did not give her any more information to work with.

But Brom and Eragon! They both liked things that her Hunter could give, Aiden knew how to make bows made of wood and metal instead of Void on the rare occasion that he needed to hunt something to eat, guns were good and all, but everything he had made his targets very unappetizing when they either exploded or disintegrated.

The only problem Io had was that Aiden and Stitch would probably not receive any gifts, her Hunter never took any gifts at all, even before they were forced from their home in the Last City by Awoken Zavala.

Maybe she could get him a shiny trinket? Her Hunter always liked to collect random things he found out in his adventures, it was one of his best qualities, to Io anyway, sometimes the things he collected were very strange and wild, but most were shiny and very appealing to her dragon like nature.

Io happily trotted over towards her Hunter, humming a small Dawning tune in her head while she put a bit of bounce in her steps, her form had gotten a bit larger since their little escapade with the Ra'zac, and now she was almost up to her Hunter's chest, although he did not seem to notice that yet. The thought of getting bigger caused Io's smile to widen, once she was as big as Saphira, she would be able to have her Hunter ride her in the sky! She could repay him for all the times he took her out on a Sparrow ride when she was feeling down.

She happily jumped right next to her Hunter, sending a wave of joy straight at his mind. Her happy thoughts however were blocked in by a barrier around his mind.

Io blinked a bit, her eyes going unfocused as she examined the small wall that held her Hunters mind away from her, it was strange, heavily fortified compared to his normal one, and while she could not feel any major emotions or thoughts, there was a small undertone of anger and grief to the emotions he was giving off.

Io took a small step back and sat on her haunches, moving her mental focus away from Aiden and towards Stitch, who was seemingly doing nothing other than going through their Inventory again, most likely trying to navigate what he called 'a mess of random junk.'

 _"_ _Stitch, what happened to Aiden?"_ She asked, distracting the small Ghost from whatever he was mumbling.

 _"_ _Hmm? Oh, Io, sorry, Aiden is… thinking about things at the moment, try not to bother him right now alright?"_ He said quickly, cutting out Io's connection before she even had a chance to ask any more questions.

Io huffed, her snout forming into a frown as she starred intently at her Hunter, who was still sitting there, staring off into space and not moving at all. She was almost unnerved by the lack of movement on his face, even when sleeping her Guardian has some form of crease or frown on his face, now however, he was motionless, the only thing moving was his chest when he took in a breath of air.

 _"_ _What are you hiding?"_ Io thought to herself suspiciously, blocking out her thoughts from Stitch, lest he try and distract her from the musings she was having.

Aiden, her Guardian, had been slightly strange for the past few days, and Io had certainly noticed. Dismissive comments, shorter tempers, and a general lack of interest were very easy to spot with how easy going and bubbly her personality was, and she did not like the state her Hunter was in.

Io poked his thigh a bit with the dull side of her claw, noticing no immediate reaction, she proceeded to poke him some more. After about ten minutes of poking, she gave up on that idea, and instead adopted a thoughtful look on her face, eyes staring at her Hunter and her snout as a devious plan formed in her head.

Io climbed up right next to her Hunter with a large grin on her face, looking down on his seated form with mischievous eyes and a light heart, she proceeded to lick Aiden's face with a big wet slurp.

The reaction, while amusing at first, quickly turned sour when Aiden jerked out of his state of semi slumber with a crazed look in his eyes, the normal blue coloring of his irises were now red, filled with malice and anger the likes of which Io had never seen before, and while it only lasted a second, Io still jumped back hastily as Aiden seemed to catch himself, jerking his arms and behind his back as he saw the slightly frightened look in Io's eyes.

His eyes were blue again, so normal and filled with concern that she almost believed what she had seen was an illusion, and she really wanted to believe that, but the thought lingered in her head even as her Hunter spoke.

 _"_ _Io… never do that again, okay?"_ Aiden said lowly, his voice was short and stressed, Io noticed he even appeared to be shaking, his left arm having a more intense reaction than the other, Io thought she saw the glint of something metallic, but she could not analyze it before the object was moved from her sight.

Io shook her head intently, her eyes less frightened then before, but they were still dilated, her breath was quickened, and she felt a strange primal need to run, as though her Hunter, her Soul Bond, would hurt her, and she could not understand why.

Aiden nodded, before he laid his head back against cold stone and simply drifted off again, leaving Io to walk away slowly, the only people who seemed to notice her Hunter's episode were Shade and Brom, but the old storyteller went back to his business of speaking with Eragon.

Io gave one last glance at Shade, before she shuffled off further into the cave, leaving the spirit filled woman to gaze intently at the Hunter's left hand.

While Io did not have the right point of view or reactions to see what exactly had occurred, Shade had been watching Aiden, she had seen the manic look in those eyes, she had seen the rage and anger hiding deep within them, but most importantly, she had seen the knife that the boy had almost plunged into his dragons heart, she had seen just how close the girl had come to death, and for the first time in her new life, she felt worried for someone other than herself, likely as a result from whatever magic the boy had used on her.

The dragon was not safe, not with that boy anyway.

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Aiden was busy, having Stitch put together a bow with Glimmer and a small bit of metal from one of his Sparrows was fast and easy, but putting together the design and the focus to do so was not. Aiden's mind was troubled, scared, and restless, he knew exactly what he would have done with the knife he held had he not snapped out of it at the last second, Io's eyes had been fearful, scared, and he caused it.

He shook his head again to keep himself from having a breakdown, Saphira was watching his work with the bow that Stitch had conjured up, etching precise pictures and amazing etchings into the metal frame, giving it a life of its own.

Making weapons was his favorite way to pass the time, he liked to etch, to craft, to build things that helped others, it was what made him a prime person to receive gifts from during the Dawning, many a Guardian sought him out just for his weapon building skill.

He never took any gifts, his first year of being a Guardian had made the wonder of the Dawning lose its luster, he didn't like receiving gifts, not since he crawled out of Crota's pit anyway.

Aiden smacked his head again, before he went back to carving in elegant dragon designs, each one looking as though an artist had personally sketched the winged legends. While Aiden was good, his success had a lot to do with Saphira being in front of him, offering her body as a template for which the dragons on the bow were being created with, Eragon would likely notice how similar the two were, if he even took the gift.

Aiden knew that trading your favorite weapon for a new and better one was difficult, it was why he held on to the Khovastov for so long, when the opportunity to make it an exotic came along, he jumped at the chance to revitalize his old reliable weapon. The bow was of course modified, Aiden decided that while blue Arc would have been a better aesthetic for Saphira, Solar energy had less of a chance to blow up in the dragon's face and the energy typing could be made to have a different color.

As a finishing touch Aiden had Stitch discreetly apply a Dawning shader in the color of Saphira's scales, completing the bow that Aiden had been spending the past few hours making, which was no easy feet considering that he had started the process while they were moving from their sandstone cave and into the wild once more. He had only gotten the gift finished shortly after they set down and made a camp.

Aiden brandished the bow with a small smile, pulling the strings and testing its durability under his extreme Guardian strength, he would have tested the bows ability to utilize the Solar mod he had installed inside, but that would alert Eragon and Brom to the bow before he was ready for them to see it.

Stitch scanned the bow from inside the Inventory and got a full blueprint for his Guardian so he could make his own easier later on, Aiden had not specifically asked for it but the Ghost knew it would please him when he did not have to spend a few more hours carving another one that matched Io's scales more.

Aiden put a finger next to his mouth as a sign for Saphira to be silent, and once he saw her eyes roll with slight amusement, he had Stitch store the bow inside of their Inventory for later use, taking up a slot in his energy weapon case, which was filled with all sorts of strange and powerful weapons the Guardian had collected over the years.

 _"_ _Alrighty then Big Blue, Eragon's gift is ready, Brom is getting a bunch of books, Io is getting something secret, and I think that leaves one more person who might need a gift from a handsome and friendly Guardian."_ Aiden said with a cocky and laid back smile adorning his face, leaning back a bit and falling to the ground with a small thud.

 _"_ _I do not need anything from you Aiden, your defense of my partner is more than enough for me."_ Saphira spoke regally, dipping her head in thanks towards the fallen Guardian.

"Come on Saph, everyone needs something, even if you're a dragon, who can't really wear or hold anything, except…. Hmm, maybe some armor?" Aiden spoke aloud, rubbing the small stubble on his face as he gained a thoughtful look. Saphira gave an amused snort, before she adjusted her snout and put her head down on the cool ground of while she kept her eyes away from the setting sun.

 _"_ _Sometimes you surprise me with your actions Aiden, you always go against whatever preconceived thoughts I had made about you, and other times you do exactly what I would have thought you to try."_ Saphira commented _. "I have yet to determine if that is a good thing."_ She finished.

Aiden laughed, gaining the attention of his four companions in the front, each one looking back at him, Eragon seemed a bit pleased with how well his partner was getting along with the Hunter. Brom looked pleased as well, but he quickly hid it by turning around and smoking on his small pipe, Shade gave the Guardian a small glance before going back to brushing off her horse's mane, and Murtagh simply brushed the laugh off and went back to the book he had pulled from his knapsack.

Aiden nodded to those who continued to stare, before he sat up and began to walk calmly towards the forested area they were near, it wasn't truly a forest, but there were enough trees there to provide significant cover from any prying eyes. A necessary place to rest with two growing dragons moving with them.

 _"_ _How's my Light looking Stitch?"_ Aiden questioned casually, still moving along at his calm pace.

 _"_ _It's about as well as I thought it was, as in barely hanging on by a thread. You used way too much in too short a time Aiden, I don't know how long it will take for you to be able to casually throw around any kind of energy, especially with how severe this case is."_ Stitch responded.

 _"_ _About what I expected, but its good to get a second opinion."_ Aiden said, once again far to casual for the topic at hand. Stitch realized this too, but the Ghost wisely decided to keep silent.

 _"_ _You know it might be a good idea to talk to them now that everything is calmed down, you never know when something terrible might happ-"_ Before Stitch could even finish his sentence, Aiden slammed his uncovered head in to a nearby tree, effectively shutting up what the Ghost was about to say.

 _"_ _Aiden! What the hell man!"_ Stitch shouted in anger, wincing a bit when his Guardian pulled his bloodied head out of the new hole in the tree.

 _"_ _Stitch, you never tempt Fate, you know it's a terrible idea to say stuff like that, because it always comes back and bites us in the ass, like Oryx, Ghaul, hell even the Emperor."_ Aiden replied distractedly as he pulled a large piece of tree out of his rapidly healing forehead.

 _"_ _So you decided to give yourself a concussion!?"_

 _"_ _Duh! After so many years together I figured you would understand how this crap works! Knock on wood and all that!"_ The Guardian replied back, his voice heated but carrying a small hint of playfulness.

 _"_ _You knock on wood with your fist, not your head! Hence the knocking!"_ Stitch's reply was also quite loud, but the Ghost seemingly got the hint, even if he was not happy about having to heal his Guardian.

Again.

Aiden continued walking once he removed the worst of the splinters, not giving the scarred and bloody tree any second though as he moved to look for his ever faithful Dragon companion. The woods were quite nice to walk through with the cover of leaves blocking most of the suns heat, it was not like the EDZ's magnificent forests, but it was wild enough for Aiden and Stitch to feel at home.

Io must have felt the same, because her head was resting peacefully near a small stream that went through the forest, her eyes appeared to be closed and her breaths were coming out in even intervals which most likely meant she was asleep.

Aiden slowed his walk just a bit when he noticed her state of being, a small genuine smile graced his lips before he started walking over towards her at a slower pace. Once he was close enough the Hunter carefully set himself down and sent a mental tendril towards Saphira, informing the big blue Dragon that he was going to take a nap.

After getting himself fully on the ground Aiden did what was normal for him in the recent months. He put his cloak over Io, had Stitch get him another one to use as a pillow, and set his head back while closing his eyes. Stitch closed off the part of Aiden's mind that let him stay awake and watched as his Guardian fell into a slumber.

Stitch gave what might be considered a smile and went back in to the Inventory to sort through the items Aiden was planning on giving to the ragtag group of misfits they had acquired along the way towards wherever Brom was taking them. While most of the gifts were done and ready to be delivered, Stitch hid a laugh as the special present both him and Io had been working on was finally finished.

Aiden would not be happy with either of them, but Stitch knew it was just what his friend needed, and Ghost's knew their partners the best.

 **Hoooooooooollllly crapo its been a while.**

 **Excuses excuses, I have a lot of them. Holidays, family matters, more holidays, school becoming a pain, but nobody wants to hear that, so I wont bother.**

 **Cool Comments Club**

 **An Anonymoose: Yea, as you probably guessed from my long wait, I fell out of the groove so to speak, but I'm back with this wonderful late Christmas gift.**

 **SethisawesomeGT: I like those stories if the OC is not some super omega god like figure that has all the harems, only if the OC is well done do I actually care for them, but that's rare.**

 **Potato man the semi omnipotent: The Slim Shady joke just came to me one day in a dream, and I realized I had to put it in here.**

 **Guest 1: Thank you for the support and help, I know my commas and none periods are quite disorienting for people and I do try to fix them, but Its hard to break a habit that I have had for a while.**

 **Guest 2: While having Eragon and co go to the Destiny world would be cool, going back to the Last City and its fall fall would not be possible, time travel is very low on the list of things I want to do to this story.**

 **General ramblings**

 **Stitch really screwed the pooch on this one huh? figured the supercomputer would know when its not okay to jinx the universe, but I guess not.**

 **For those that care, Aiden is indeed mentally unstable. After years of painful deaths and losing countless allies, who wouldn't be? he takes things like jinxing and Fate very seriously, hence his extreme method of 'knocking on wood'.**


	13. New Dawn (Part 2)

_Lights and noises, that was the only thing his mind could rationally process at the moment, everything else was slowed and archived for later while his mind did everything it could to figure out exactly how this could have happened to him._

 _The Traveler was attacked, he lost his Light, the City was falling. All of it was of little consequence, one of the only people he truly cared for was gone._

 _Even through their near broken link he could feel Stitch and his shattered emotions. The Ghost was reeling and doing exactly what he was doing right now, trying to rationalize and deny what was becoming more and more obvious every passing second._

 _Io was gone._

 _A spike of grief nearly overwhelmed him, his eyes blurring with shed tears that traveled all the way down his battered and dirty face as he fell down on all fours as the ruins of his home spun above him. The only thing that kept him from simply giving up then and there was the girl tugging helplessly on his tattered arm plate, trying to take him from the grief that she had no idea he was feeling._

 _She was scared, and for a damning and dreadful second, Aiden did not care about her._

 _He had given everything to them, people who never gave a damn about Guardians and what they sacrificed every day. People like her had spent their entire lives living in peace while his kind, his brothers and sisters, died. And now they had taken Io. He growled and raged inside of his mind while he barely held himself back from ripping his knife out of its sheath._

"You don't deserve anything you've been given…" _He growled in his head, body spasming not with sadness or pain, but with pure and dark rage._

 _Stitch must have felt phantom sensations of rage, because he moved out of his hiding spot to push against the downed Guardians head. Aiden nearly brushed him off and turned his anger filled gaze back at the girl, but the message was clear._

 _It wasn't her fault._

 _His mind still wanted to blame her, but he knew from experience that pinning the blame on another was a common sign of grief. Shaxx had drilled it into his head when he asked for permission to go on strikes during his first year as a Guardian. People died, and blaming others would only hurt them, it wouldn't bring them back._

 _That did not make it easier to hide the dark emotions inside his eyes._

 _Aiden wiped the tears from his face with a shaking hand, standing to his full height and taking one last look at the scared and confused girl before he turned his gaze towards what remained of his friend. Io's bones were dull and brittle now that Aiden truly looked at them, only one piece seemed to contain any semblance of the impervious bones he had once worm into battle, and even then it was not as bright as it used to be. Aiden wanted to grab all of his friends remains and bring it with him, but Stitch was not at his best and asking the Ghost to transmatt such an unstable material would be difficult._

 _The girl gave one more tug on his cloak, reminding Aiden that she was indeed still there, which dragged him back into the present and cleared his head of memories long gone. He grunted at the child before grabbing the one last solid piece of Io and stuffing it inside one of his ammo pouches, careful to not disturb the wire mesh armor scattered around his body._

 _"Come on, we have to get going before they find us…" Aiden whispered to the girl, reaching his hand out to her as a sign of peace, she seemed reluctant to take it after what she had just seen, but she took it anyway. Aiden lifted her up as carefully as he could and set her into his makeshift backpack once more, careful to make sure he didn't cut the poor girl on one of the many sharp edges of his tattered armor._

 _Stitch flew back inside of his hiding space while Aiden went over to the entrance of his tiny apartment, the Guardian gave one last solemn look before he turned and opened his door._

 _A bright light blinded him, and pain overtook his chest._

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 _"Aiden, wakey wakey!"_ A female voice jerked him away from his nightmare, making him leap upwards, and hit his head on the owner of said female voice. With a yelp and a grunt of pain from both Io and Aiden, Rider and Dragon both rolled on the floor while Stitch laughed hysterically from inside the safety of his backpack.

"Ahh jeez, you okay Io?" Aiden asked with concern as he rubbed his head slowly, careful to not put pressure on the bump that was slowly disappearing, Light was a hell of a drug, even in small doses.

The not so small dragon grumbled her reply through the Link, making Aiden wince as the countless times he had bitten his tongue flashed through his mind. It was not a fun experience, even for a battle hardened Guardian.

 _"Maybe I should get you a padded helmet for that hard head of yours."_ Stitch laughed out, getting a glare for his trouble, even if Aiden could not see the little flashlight.

"Keep it up, I'll get you one day ya little light bulb." Aiden said darkly, getting up quickly and petting Io on her scaly brow which elicited a small purr of contentment.

 _"Where's the rest of the gang?"_ Aiden asked curiously as he stretched himself out from his fitful sleep.

 _"Murtagh was asking Brom if he was, THE Brom I guess? I don't know, they talked all funny when I was around, they also mentioned a Doormat in Gil'ead!"_ She chirped happily as her spiny tail started to wag in a way similar to a cat.

Aiden shook his head and finished his bit of stretching, and after checking his gear to make sure nothing was being left behind, he moved out with Io in tow to find out what his friends were discussing.

Without him.

The small forest he had been resting in was easy to traverse, and soon he found himself back in the cleaned up camp site they had all set up before, which meant that the group plus one Shade had decided to get traveling. _"Least they could do was wake me up… jeez, not like it would have taken a lot either."_ Aiden grumbled in fake hurt, not really talking to anyone but himself.

 _"Quit complaining, the faces around here are too grim for having just decided to pack up"_ Stitch pointed out to his nearly oblivious Guardian, causing him to actually examine the people around him.

Shade, Brom, Murtagh, and even Saphira did not seem too pleased with whatever had happened while he was out, Shade was the most obvious about it with the way she scowled with pure malice at what must have been a particularly interesting bush. Murtagh himself looked more nervous than anything, and Brom just looked plain tired to the battle hardened Guardian.

Eragon just looked like he had eaten a bad grape.

"So what's the plan gang?" Aiden asked as he dissolved a small bit of the tension in the area, his plan was even more successful when Shade glared at him in response.

"Were going to Gil'ead to find a former associate of mine." Brom stated with obvious ire in his tone, which didn't really make sense to Aiden, but he nodded along as though he understood exactly why they were all so upset about this.

"What the old man means to say is, were going into a heavily patrolled and dangerous area filled with some of the Empires finest soldiers, so we can then go and look for a sleep deprived hallucination that the boy had." With this she gestured at Eragon, who seemed very insulted, and then continued on with her rant "And probably get caught by the numerous soldiers that Galbatorix keeps stationed there at all times of the year, did I miss anything, oh former Rider?" Shade asked with large amounts of venom directed towards Brom.

Aiden's brow furrowed in obvious confusion, but no one in the clearing seemed to notice it in the wake of Saphira's sharp growl.

 _"Watch your tongue Dead-Thing."_ Saphira broadcasted to the minds of everyone in the clearing, her lingering threat doing nothing but make Shade's eyes glow redder.

 _"Stitch...?"_ Aiden said slowly, the question lingering between the Link they held.

 _"I heard it too, she called Brom a Rider… suddenly everything he has taught us about dragons is beginning to make sense, he never could have known that, unless he WAS a Rider."_ Stitch said lowly, possibilities flying through his mind rapidly.

Brom had lost his dragon, his partner and friend when all else failed and everyone else left. Stitch and Aiden had felt a similar pain themselves back in the days of the Red War, but they were both fortunate enough to have been able to abate that mind crushing loneliness between each other, otherwise the weight of losing their friend might well have crushed them.

How had Brom come out of such an event without devolving into a raving lunatic?

With the news that Brom was possibly a Rider, Aiden's face morphed between shock, confusion, regret, and then finally, resolve. All of which were noticed by the more keen eyed Shade and Brom.

"What's the plan for Gil'ead?" Aiden said loudly, drawing everyone else's attention to him. Silence was the outstanding answer while everyone thought on how exactly the plan would go about, but Brom was the one who gave the first reasonable proposal.

"We would need to stay clear of the road to Dras-Leona, posters will now be circulating the cities with our appearances, and traders can be just as damning as soldiers if we have bounties on our heads, for now we need to keep Saphira and Io in the skies until were far enough from those vile creatures to relax. Furthermore, I will need Eragon and you to help me set wards to prevent scrying, can you do that Shade?" Brom finished, directing his 'request' towards the still scowling Shade. She only nodded once before she went towards Murtagh and began muttering the words for scrying and blocking in the Ancient language.

Brom then turned towards Aiden, the only one who hadn't been given an instruction and simply gestured for the Guardian to follow him outside of the camp. When they got a sufficient distance away, Brom held on to his wound and slowly leaned against a nearby tree.

Several seconds of silence went by, and Aiden began to get a little worried that the old man had passed out since he couldn't see his eyes, so high was this concern, he nearly jumped when the storyteller spoke.

"I see darkness in your eyes my boy" Brom whispered, putting his piercing gaze upon Aiden, who went straight as a rod upon hearing those words.

"You can hide it from everyone else, but I have seen that darkness countless times throughout my life never once has it failed to consume the people that held it. Never." He said with a grimace.

"I don't know wha-"

"Shut up!" Brom said harshly, making Aiden flinch backwards. He sounded so much like Shaxx.

"You hide your true self from us, you barely acknowledge your partner, and when you do it usually leaves her with more hurt than you can possibly see. I see what you try so hard to hide Aiden, you may be broken, but you should not drag the most important person in your life down that same path." Brom finished, his breath coming out in ragged gasps as he held onto his chest.

Aiden's hid his face inside the shadows of his hood, head leaning more towards the ground with each harsh truth that came out of the old man's mouth. The worst part of the experience was that he was right! The old bastard was right, and Aiden couldn't help but grow frustrated with himself for it.

"My true self is not for her to see, it is not for any of you to see." Aiden whispered hoarsely, his voice cracking just a small bit.

"You cannot decide that for us, and especially not for her! She will never become the great dragon she is supposed to be with you constantly hiding yourself from her, she needs YOU, not this person you portray yourself as. Not this happy go lucky BOY that you have created for yourself." Brom bit back, his brow furrowed in anger.

Aiden nodded once, but he couldn't even stand to look in the general direction of the old man, so he silently went back to camp where everyone else was busy looking over a map, drawing out routes and possible places to hide from what he could see.

Aiden perked up a small bit when a small bundle in his pocket started to shake, bringing out the little orb of light revealed once more the soul he had saved in the cave. Whoever it was, they were certainly excited to see the Guardian, as the container they were in began to shake and warm up at his touch. Normally the thought of saving the small spirit would have filled him with elation, but now it just made him feel tired and wary. The upcoming decisions he would have to make involving his life in Alagaësia would be difficult, raving lunatics with untold power, an old former Rider teaching him the complexities of the Ancient Language and magic, it was all very stressful.

He didn't have time to think about how to help the spirit he held so casually in his arms.

So he put it away, and called Io to him as he prepared the last of his belongings for travel. Gil'ead wouldn't wait for an unprepared Guardian after all.

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Velandra frowned from her spot in the void, hand flickering through several dozen holograms at a time, moving faster than any normal creature could possibly track. Her mind was restless and while she required none of the thing's mortals did, she still felt herself grow tired from her constant searching. So she flicked a small portion of her power into the Void and summoned one of her Vex 'mouthpieces' as it were.

A small Harpy flickered into existence at her call, its eye pulsating an irregular color of white before it flickered onto its master.

"Go into the land I have designated and search for anything that could prove deadly to our guest, do so thoroughly, I cannot afford to save him again." She spoke softly, yet her voice carried untold power, the Harpy flashed out of existence with naught a chirp, once again leaving the goddess alone with her thoughts and several billion little things she needed to take care of.

She instead flicked her mind towards Aiden, her ever useful, and frustrating, Chosen.

He was riding towards some city called Gil'ead, which peaked her curiosity a small bit, she did not truly think the Guardian was that interested in getting involved with such a large military town.

She looked around at the individuals in his group next, seeing if everything was alright, the only difference from schedule was the female Shade he had with him, but that could easily be written off to any outside observ-

Valandra did a double take, an impressive feat for someone with a thinking capacity millions of times faster than that of a Ghost.

Brom was ALIVE.

An impossibility, she was certain of it, it could not be anything else but that, he was not supposed to be alive and her sensors must have been malfunctioning, they had to be! Sadly, her dread grew to undefinable levels as every scan and search she conducted concluded that somehow, someway, Brom was alive, he was ALIVE!

She searched through her archives, going frantically as waves of energy began to radiate off her because of her small breakdown. She saw the moment with perfect clarity, Brom being nicked with the knife instead of scraping by his heart, a Shade of all things helping her Chosen instead of trying to kill him.

How had this happened? How had she LET this happen?

She couldn't do anything now, Aiden had changed the fundamentals of the entire land just by being in it and erasing her mistake now would only cause the ones who were undoubtably watching her to investigate, she could not resist the power they would bring to bear on her should she refuse to open her realms.

So, she sat bat down, and watched with dejectedness as the boy Eragon began his search of all the towns prisons to find a particular elf maiden.

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Almost four weeks had passed since their little meeting with the Ra'zac, and while it hadn't been deadly or dangerous, it had been uneventful except for the small moments where Eragon went into cities to find the girl from his vision. Aiden understood this very well, visions like the one Eragon showed him in his memories were almost exactly the things that saved all of humanity back in the Red War. Even if Aiden found the strange dreams to be just that; dreams, he had to let Eragon search for her.

During this time, Eragon grew to sixteen years of age, Murtagh revealed himself to be a master of the sword, and Brom TRULY began to teach them the wonders of magic and the Ancient Language as a whole.

Aiden was well and truly fascinated now.

Magic could never hold a candle to Light, but what it lacked in power, it more than made up for in utility. Like the MIDA Multi-Tool versus a Gjallarhorn.

From sharpening a blade, to doing mass amounts of lifting or just summoning a small bit of flames, magic could do almost anything that his Light would find trouble doing. Aiden had slowly been practicing with Stitch in the mysterious ways of the Ancient Language, and while the blunt force hammer style of his Light was good for strong and mighty enemies, magic was the scalpel that did things quietly and easily.

Magic was fueled by the body and its energy, that much Aiden knew. What he did not know was that another major component of using it was the ability to imagine things. Stitch thought that the old man was being sarcastic and made his Guardian say as much, but the old storyteller was adamant, knowing what you wanted the magic to do was just as important as knowing the words for it. A spell forged without direction from the casters thoughts and goals for it would simply fizzle out or explode in a catastrophic display of power. Brom said it was exactly what happened when Aiden flung his rock into the stratosphere, he didn't 'inform' the rock where to stop, so it simply flew upwards with a massive burst of magic.

Now that he was proficient enough in magic, Brom had decided to go for something a bit more worth while to the Guardian while on the road. Learning about Dragons.

Aiden knew almost as much as he could about the mythical and ancient beasts, but that knowledge was somewhat tainted by the powerful Ahamkaras. Even if Io was technically a dragon now, he could not get forget where she had truly come from, even though he harbored no ill will towards his partner for her origins.

Shade stuck around for the history course, but she never truly joined in or tried to participate. This was fine with Brom of course, who still harbored intense feelings of hatred for Shades and claiming that whenever one showed up, death and destruction were wrought. Aiden decided that hearing second hand reports was useless and went over towards her with a curious disposition.

"Why didn't you try to kill us all that night?" Aiden asked when almost all of the camp had gone to bed, the exception being Eragon, Saphira, and Murtagh, who were trying very badly to hide their interest in the conversation.

Aiden really did think that she would have ignored him purely out of spite, but he found himself surprised when she responded with more than just two words.

"You freed me, as much as it pains me to admit it and I need to be around you to, if not figure out how you did it, then have you do it to me again." She admitted casually, unnatural glowing red eyes starring straight into his soul.

"Freed you?" He asked back, leaning his head forward in a sign of interest.

"Yes, you somehow restrained the other spirits in my body, you freed me from their numbing control and unsteady insanity, and for that I owe you more than I can possibly begin to say." She answered, still staring, still casual.

Aiden did not truly understand her meaning, he knew what Shades were capable of, knew that they held some tainted fragment of souls inside their bodies, but he couldn't quite comprehend what she meant when she said he had freed her from said spirits. Void was certainly not his preferred energy, but he knew for certain it did not sever mental connection, otherwise it would have been banned from usage against other Guardians. What she was saying could not be possible.

"What do you mean, freed you? I thought Shades could not separate any single spirit in their body?" Aiden asked interestedly, not noticing the shifting of the group towards the conversation.

"Normally they cannot, but whatever power you used did. It destroyed the link between us, severed my chains and gave me my freedom. Without your assistance, I might very well have been forced to roam the lands being drowned in the insanity of my other selves." She said, her tone momentarily taking on an annoyed edge.

Aiden nodded once, his thoughts elsewhere as what Shade had said hit him and theories began to be traded between Ghost and Guardian.

" _Any idea what she is saying bud?"_ Aiden asked, distractedly.

" _None whatsoever, the Warlock data is very precise on what the Void has been capable of in the past, nothing like this has ever been recorded before. I'm even looking for vague mentions of Link-Severing techniques! Nothing is showing up, Aiden."_ Stitch finished with a digital chirp of his database being closed.

"I can't tell you what happened, but if that's all it takes to keep you on our side, I'll be more than happy to shoot you with my arrows every once in a while." Aiden said with a badly suppressed grin, watching Shades face turn from thinly veiled annoyance to mystified befuddlement.

She took a moment to respond, but it did eventually come when she got her wits together again. "I… I thank you Aiden, your help is… Appreciated." Shade forced out, her gratitude was sincere enough to Aiden, but it seemed like she had not ever expressed such feelings to someone.

"Good! Now get some sleep, I'm taking first watch." Aiden called as he started to walk towards the light of the campfire where the 'sneaky spies' were all making themselves appear busy, each one doing a terrible job of acting like they weren't listening.

Aiden walked right up to Eragon, who was busy looking at anyplace that was not the approaching Guardian.

"Eragon, I made you something." Aiden said with a small grin that somewhat reached his eyes. Eragon finally decided to look at the approaching Hunter, and when he did, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

From somewhere that Eragon could only guess at, Aiden had produced a massively complex and beautiful bow. Carved into it were illustrations and symbols that Eragon could barely decipher in the low light, but the most obvious ones were small beautifully crafted symbols of the Gedwёy ignasia and his own dragon, Saphira.

Eragon reached out his slightly shaking hands as Aiden gave him the masterpiece of a bow, a smile resting on the Guardians face and a gracious bow being performed as Eragon grabbed the very sturdy string of the bow and pulled it back. Eragon marveled at the craftsmanship of the weapon and the strange energy he felt when he pulled on the string, to the young Rider, the weapon almost felt alive.

"Like it?" Aiden asked cheekily as Eragon had to exert tremendous willpower to take his gaze away from the weapon he had been given.

"I-I love it!" Eragon exclaimed as quietly as he could, feeling Saphira perk up a bit as the emotions he was feeling drifted to her as well. Murtagh himself just examined the bow curiously, nodding to himself once he was done examining it.

"Good, happy Dawning kid. It's a little late, but I'm sure that it's gonna more than make up for it."

Eragon spent the rest of his night practicing with the bow a small bit away, releasing arrows with increasing frequency and noticing with a jolt of pleasure that each arrow he shot glowed a deep blue color similar to Saphira's scales and every impact caused a small burst of blue fire to pop into existence on his target for a brief moment.

Aiden simply smiled, and let the new day come to pass as they drifted closer and closer to Gil'ead.

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They were currently camped outside of the aforementioned city, far enough away that Saphira and Io could rest nearby without being seen. Aiden, Eragon, Brom, and a fully covered Shade were sitting quietly around a small fire. Trying to preserve their heat as they had arrived late at night to try and avoid people noticing them. Murtagh was busy in the city trying to find the Dormnad character. Eragon looked like he wanted to pace and storm about the clearing, but he decided against it when he noticed how silent everything was.

"I hate the waiting…" Eragon whispered to himself, but he saw Saphira and Aiden perk up a bit from their side opposite of him. Aiden only nodded to him afterword's, taking on a deep and far-off look as he seemed to gaze through the fire to some distant point.

"The waiting is what decides most battles, you know?" Aiden asked shortly after, causing everyone to look up at him. His form much smaller now that he was completely out of his armor, except for his Iron Banner cloak.

He elaborated soon after at everyone's look. "Waiting. it gives people time to think, to question. Every time I got into a fight with someone that waited, they didn't know what to do, how to fight, where to start. Me? I always try to start the battle first if it's inevitable. If an enemy has time to wait, they don't have time to come up with a plan for you." Aiden finished as he threw a small bit of wood into the fire, watching ash and flame reach up towards the stars before going back down.

Shade nodded with him, she seemed to agree with the Hunter's words.

"Wouldn't it be better to give them a chance to flee, though?" Eragon asked curiously, restarting the conversation.

Aiden's gaze darkened, and Eragon shivered as he saw a small tendril of shadow drop from his fellow Rider's hand. The little blotch was gone the next second though, so Eragon rubbed his eyes and confirmed that nothing had been there. Aiden spoke up as though nothing had happened.

"Giving your enemy the chance to flee only allows them to come back stronger, Eragon. Giving mercy sometimes only leads to death, remember that." He said darkly, covering his head with the cloak he always carried. With his face now covered by shadows, Eragon looked away as he felt two eyes drill into him.

"Mercy is also what makes us human, Aiden." Brom chimed in from next to Eragon, causing Aiden's hood covered head to tilt towards the old storyteller. Brom continued. "Without mercy, were little more than animals masquerading as people."

Aiden's hood tilted low to the ground as Io drifted closer and rubbed against his shoulder, her head much taller than his now that he was sitting.

"What makes us human…" Aiden repeated softly, looking at his naked hand.

Brom narrowed his eyes, before raising them in surprise as though some final puzzle piece finally clinked together inside his mind. Before the old storyteller could speak up however, Saphira alerted them to activity near the gate of Gil'ead.

 _"Murtagh is coming"_ She projected into their minds, causing several heads to gaze towards the entrance of the city. And true to her word, a rider was coming towards their camp at rapid speeds, seeming very hurried for someone who was only talking to a Varden spy.

When he arrived, Murtagh went over towards the fire and grabbed himself a seat along with some set aside soup, his mouth was full well before anyone could ask him what had happened. Aiden and the rest gave him time to fill himself before they started to question the boy.

"He agreed to meet us tomorrow, on a small hill up the road. Although he was very skeptical of Brom being here, he accepted." Murtagh said while wiping a small bit of soup off his cloak.

"Why were you in such a hurry?" Aiden asked the boy, seeing Brom nod at the question as well.

"Someone I know saw me. Unfortunately, he is not the kind to keep silent. We can only hope he does not jabber to anyone important." Murtagh said bitterly, upset with his perceived failure.

Aiden got up and took his hood off, Eragon squinted a bit as he saw the most peculiar streak of red in one on of his fellow Rider's eye. Eragon consulted Saphira on this and she agreed with him, that red had not been there before.

"You did good Murtagh, why don't you take a rest while we figure things out?" Aiden 'asked', but Eragon got the distinct feeling it was not a mere suggestion. Murtagh nodded either way, so he went over towards his small section of the camp and tucked himself into his bedroll and was soon fast asleep.

Aiden nodded once everything was done and they put the fire out. The young Rider did what he almost always did nowadays and offered to stay on watch for the entire night so everyone got their fair share of sleep. Brom had been suspicious when this first occurred back in the days when Aiden was not a trusted friend, but the old Rider simply nodded and grumbled some goodnights before he too went to his own section of camp.

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Almost an hour later, everyone but Shade and Aiden were down and out for the count. Aiden did not really need the sleep and waking up from a recurring nightmare was not appealing to him at the moment. Shade however simply stayed up because her body did not require the amount of sleep that a human body did. Shade stood up once everything was in order and gestured for Aiden to follow her once he had finished making sure Io was sound asleep. The Guardian did, although with extreme reluctance and a concerned glance at the horse sized bundle of blankets covering Io.

Once they were far enough away that Aiden could no longer see the large mound that was Saphira, Shade began to speak.

"You are not human, are you?" She questioned the Guardian simply and without hesitation, although the curiosity was clear in her voice.

Aiden tensed up for a moment, expecting an attack, a defensive stance, some form of mental warfare. All he got was a curious stare and a tapping of Shade's hand on a nearby tree.

"No point lying then huh? I assume you dragged me out here because you know I want this kept a secret, right?" Aiden asked quietly, the threat in his voice was more than obvious enough for Shade, who only had to glance at the small bit of red in the Hunter's eye to realize he was serious.

"You are correct. I have spent much time around humans because of my… former masters bidding, and while you can be strong and foolhardy by nature, you are something far different." She said while examining the Guardian up and down with a critical eye.

"What gave it away?" Aiden asked curiously, stretching out his shoulders as his body started to warm up with prebattle fever.

"Your actions. You never eat, rarely sleep, and the things you do with those dreadful powers of yours are beyond anything a human could do, magically gifted or not, it is not normal." She finished off, noticing the Hunter tensing and preparing for a battle with an amused twinkle in her glowing red eyes.

"Man, I really need to stop dropping the ball, don't I?" Aiden said dejectedly, but Shade saw right through his aloof act. To her trained and sharp eyes, the hunter looked more tired than angry with himself for being caught.

"Indeed." Shade agreed simply.

"What will you do with this information?"

"Keep it to myself hopefully."

"Really now, you have the ultimate bribing tool and you choose to hide it?"

"You forget that I am indebted to you, Aiden. As much as it pains me to admit it, I need you." Shade finished their little argument with a flourish of her cloak, and she started to stalk back to the camp under the cover of dark. The only indication that she was there previously was the small indentation on the grass where her feet had been.

"…She's really gonna start to bug me soon." Aiden quietly said to himself, knowing Stitch would hear him either way.

 _"You were pretty obvious, to be fair."_ Stitch replied.

"Nobody asked you Lightbulb." Aiden grumbled back, making his way to the camp to try and keep an eye on Io.

After almost ten minutes of walking, Aiden slowed to a crawl as he found Shade simply laying down on the dirt near the camp, her posture tense and her gaze inquisitive. Aiden grew confused and fearful and he quickly 'knocked' on her mental barrier to request permission to speak with her. She answered immediately.

 _"What's going on?"_ Aiden asked seriously, sliding into the patch of leaves next to Shade.

 _"Urgal's, and something far more powerful, they ambushed them and they knocked Io unconscious while the Rider boy was taken. Saphira flew off with Io, Brom, and Murtagh. But the powerful creature stayed behind. He knows there are more of us."_ Shade summarized grimly, Aiden only now noticed her eyes were now a duller red than before, and her pupils had shrunken down to near pinpricks.

 _"She's scared…"_ Stitch whispered to Aiden, his Hunter only nodding in agreement before he looked across the way at the camp, and the hooded person standing in what was left of it.

 _"Aiden, whatever that is… it is NOT human."_ Stitch said urgently, the fact that Io was far away from the camp was the only bit of good news the Ghost could come up with. Aiden nodded to himself, before Shade nearly had a heart attack as the Guardian lifted himself up and started walking towards the hooded figure with an ease that betrayed the serious look in his grey eyes.

"HEY DICKHEAD!" Aiden shouted at the top of his lungs. Shade ducked her head down low to avoid being seen by the creature that held much more power than she could ever fight, her very soul was terrified of confronting whatever it was. She felt scared for the first time in her life, and it was very unpleasant.

Aiden marched right towards the cloaked figure noticing the broader shoulders and taller height, with an angry scowl on his face and a knife in his hand, Aiden flung the Solar-powered throwing knife directly at the supposed man's skull. Despite the speed of the advance and the relative surprise of the attack, the man not only dodged the knife, he grabbed the handle and started to examine the weapon.

"Where did you take the boy?" Aiden asked threateningly, brandishing another knife as he pulled the remnants of Quickfang from storage and pointed it at the man. The man only looked at Aiden while his pale head held a vicious smile upon it. For some reason Aiden could not see the man's eyes.

"He Is where he needs to be, boy. I had hoped to catch at least one Rider tonight, but you have instead given me a chance to gain TWO!" With his last word, the man practically teleported in front of the surprised Guardian, who could do little else but jerk his arm into the path the dagger would have taken. He saved himself the trouble of a bleeding lung and instead gained a burning hole in his arm.

 _"He broke your shields in one shot!"_ Stitch added while Aiden flung himself a fair distance away from the stranger, ripping the knife from his cauterized arm as his breath quickened and body began to flood with adrenaline.

 _"He's fast too, Traveler damn it he's almost as fast as Cayde was…"_ Aiden stated as Stitch started to heal up the wound in his Guardians arm, catching the attention of the man.

"Healing now? I was told you were strong, but that is very impressive boy." The man finished.

And just like that, the battle was once again started as the man zoomed across the field at speeds Aiden could barely keep up with. The only thing that saved him from being knocked unconscious was Stitch's healing and his honed instincts which allowed him to block the hooded man's strikes. Aiden ducked forward under a blow that would have taken his head off and jerked his head back to avoid a flying knee to the face. With his options limited on ways to attack, Aiden blinked away from the man's next strike. The Guardian made a face when the fist that almost impacted his back instead buried itself in the ground and made a small crater. Aiden was given no time to rest however when another fist impacted his leg, bending it at an awkward angle and releasing a sharp _crack_ into the night. Aiden cried out in pain before he blinked fifteen feet away from his opponent. The man only narrowed his eyes when Aiden refused to falter in the face of his broken bones and the clearing became eerily quiet.

With a flash of silver, a scratched sword appeared in the man's hand to match the Guardians broken sword. Aiden tensed himself as he steadied his sword arm and his broken leg bone stitched itself together with a dull snap. They both waited in the almost oppressive silence with grave looks exchanged.

Aiden took the initiative, blinking behind the pale man and stabbing Quickfang into his side. The strike itself was minimal, but the counter strike the man made sent Aiden reeling as he was blasted backwards by an unseen force. The blow that seemed to have come from nowhere tore Aiden's shirt to dust and turned his chest into a bruised network of cracks as Stitch tried desperately to heal his Guardian from a blow that turned his organs to mush. When Aiden landed, blood flew from his mouth and he only had a second to lift Quickfang in order to block the one-handed blow from the man's sword.

"Fucking magic." Aiden spat, literally shooting a glob of life fluids from his mouth. He blinked far behind the opponent and steadied himself as he felt his stomach knit together inside of himself, it was not a pleasant feeling. Aiden waited as his shields silently returned to full and his body began to stabilize with Stitch's impressive attempt to heal it, but Aiden got a distinct feeling it would not help him against the monster before him.

"It is a most impressive tool, is it not?" The man asked with a cocky attitude, twirling his cracked sword around like it was a paperweight. Aiden found the fact he was being steadily pushed back less annoying than the fact that he could not pull off the same acrobatic stunts with his Bolt-Caster.

"Yea, yea, pull a rabbit out of your ass and maybe well talk about impressive you emo dick." Aiden spit back, literally spewing spittle at the man in an attempt to insult him. It worked.

"Well you are a strange one, aren't you?" it's a shame really, you would be an interesting pet to break." The man snarled out, his voice wavering between several different tones and accents. Aiden narrowed his eyes at the man but had to widen them again as he suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"I'm so sorry to cut this short, but I have places to be and you are putting up far too much of a fight to let live. Goodbye." The surprised Guardian did his best to blink out of the way, maybe try and shadestep away from the strike he could feel but not see, but he could not avoid the blade that pierced his chest. it slid through his body, severing his spinal cord in one slick movement and causing his head to hang limp. Aiden gasped as a bit of blood managed to leak into his throat and flow out of his mouth, staining the hood of his assailant and causing the man to smile in grim satisfaction.

"Y-you said… you needed, t-two Rider's." Aiden coughed, sending blood once again flickering on to the demon before him. He only nodded once and removed the bloody blade from the Guardians chest.

"I did. But I'm positive the King won't mind losing you. You're not like the boy after all, much more powerful, but as long as your dragon lives than there is no need to keep you alive. You're better off dead." With that final remark, he let the dangling body of the Aiden fall to the floor, blood dripping from him in waves.

The man walked away into the darkness as Aiden lay there panting and struggling to breathe. His lungs were filling with blood, and black spots were appearing all around his vision as he felt himself lose control of what remained of his upper body.

 _"Stitch… I think I messed up here…"_ Aiden shakily thought as his head began to tremble.

 _"It's okay Aiden, It's okay! I'm gonna heal you soon buddy, just stay calm until then, okay?!"_ Stitch franticly said as he started the slow process of reattaching his Guardians spine. It was slow going and the fact that Aiden was in agonizing pain did nothing to calm him, but Stitch went as fast as he could.

"Fuck it…" Aiden whispered as his shaking hand reached down towards Quickfang. He grabbed the blade with a shaky grip and before Stitch could protest, he stabbed the broken blade through his heart. Aiden slumped to the ground as a corpse, leaving the world behind in silence. The only sound a crinkling of a bush as Shade silently shook in her hiding spot, starring in horror towards the dead body of Aiden.

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After almost an hour of the world passing by and silence ruling eternal in the resting place of Aiden, Shade walked out of the forested area she had been hiding in. getting a close look at the body of the person she had been traveling with for almost two months.

"…." Shade starred at the man in distraught confusion, her mind running blank as she saw the corpse before her, unable to comprehend the sight.

"…How could you die?" She whispered to herself, doubt creeping into her voice for the first time in her entire life. "You were so strong, so damn strong… how the hell could someone so strong be so damned stupid!" She screamed into the night, angry at herself, angry at Aiden, angry at whatever had killed the broken body before her. She fell to the floor with a hot wetness traveling down her face, causing her to rub at her eyes furiously as she looked away from the body of the person who had inadvertently saved her from madness.

"He does that a lot." A voice said beside her, startingly close to her head. She whipped around, searching her line of sight for a person of some kind but the only thing she saw was the shadows of the night and a few low hanging trees.

"Over here." The voice said, right behind her this time.

She jerked around while raising a dagger to stab a person, only to find something far, far different.

"Hey, I'm Stitch." The floating shape said, a small light flickering in its center, almost like an eye if Shade looked at it funny.

"What are you?!" She growled out. Her tone brokering no doubt to the threat in her words, the daggers she held also helped to reaffirm her violent outburst.

"I'm a Ghost, and I'm with knucklehead over there." The 'Ghost' said, gesturing with one of its shoulder plates at the still bleeding corpse of Aiden. Shade only glared at him angrily at his insult. Despite her not being close to the Guardian, his death hit her hard. He was the one who set her free, who gave her a chance at life, and despite her cynical nature and angry outlook, seeing him die felt like an actual loss to her.

That is why she would not tolerate him being disrespected by a floating ball.

"Watch your tongue, creature! Before I rip it ou-"

"Ghost's don't have tongues actually, but if you keep quiet for a minute I can let you yell at knucklehead instead." The daring little thing interrupted her, and it was spouting such nonsense that her mouth opened and closed for several seconds trying to come up with something to say back. It beat her to the punch however when it flew over towards Aiden's corpse and began to glow brighter than the sun.

Shade shielded her eyes as the glow overpowered her night vision and rendered her blind for a few moments. In that time she squared her shoulders and prepared herself for an attack from all directions, straining her hearing to its limit and grinding her teeth against each other as she prepared for a fight.

She waited as the light died down for some form of attack of retaliation, but all she heard was footsteps walking calmly towards her, to which she immediately swung her dagger at the sound. Instead of finding the blood of an enemy on her blade, she felt a hand calmly grab her weapons and lower them.

"You can put those down now Slim Shady."

Her eyes jerked open and her mouth took on the shape of an 'O' as she saw an impossibility standing before her.

Aiden smiled at her in the dark, his normally grey eyes shining with a radiance of blue, red, and purple. His body was no longer naked and ruined, now he was in shining armor that looked as if it was made that very day. His torn and tattered cloak was now repaired and looked as though it had been polished a few moments ago, and the bruises he sported on his hands and head were gone, replaced with a dirt free and clean body.

She was speechless, and for a time she simply sat there and starred at the reborn man before her.

"Guess who's back?" the 'Ghost' said, floating over Aiden's shoulder like a falcon would sit on its master's. Aiden's face soured, and he turned his baleful gaze onto the floating ball next to him. His next words flooring Shade in pure confusion.

"You little shit, that was my joke!"

"Well I said it first."

"Only because I told you I was going to say it!"

"Well maybe if you were quicker then I wou-"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

Aiden and Stitch both turned to a now fuming Shade, who was grasping her daggers with a white knuckled grip and eyeing the two of them like they were completely insane for having an argument after one of them had just died.

"You died!" She screamed harshly, eyes glowing a harsh blood red as her body trembled in anger.

Aiden nodded once, before he grabbed Shade by the shoulder and looked her in the eye. His eyes had started to adopt their normal grey appearance as the rainbow of colors left him. Once she had relatively calmed down, he moved over towards the former battlefield.

"That's the thing about me. Death and I have an agreement, I don't kick his ass and he stay's far away from me." Aiden said as sarcastically as he could while gathering up the fallen knives he had dropped and having Stitch transmatt Quickfang back into his inventory.

"That doesn't make sense! Nobody can come back to life! Only Shades can…." She trailed off as a realization hit her hard. She looked at Aiden with a cautious and guarded look. "Are you a Shade…?" She whispered.

Aiden laughed at her question, but he didn't leave her in the dark on the matter.

"I'm more than a Shade can be, but also less at the same time. Your ability to grow stronger after you 'die' is rather interesting, but where your death allows you to manifest back after a month or two, mine allows me to come back instantly, at any time I wish." Aiden explained to Shade while he finished up checking the area for anything of value, only managing to find the dark blood that he had spilled when he died. He turned to the still fuming Shade.

"Shade, I promise to tell you everything I can. But first, we need to rescue Eragon. Are you up for that?" Aiden said, his gaze tearing through her logical and reasonable defenses and causing her nod her head angrily, her emotions now slightly calmer.

"Fine. Fine! But you will tell me everything about what happened here, or so help me…" She threatened, pointing a pale finger into the amused Guardians face.

Aiden grinned one of his hollow grins and grabbed her hand in a firm shake.

"I swear. Now, let's get ready for war, eh?" Aiden asked mischievously as a large and menacing sword flickered into existence in his hand, he let her hand go to steady the very large blade with a two handed grip. A large blue crystal dominated its shape and Shade noticed the similarities to the thunder she had seen Aiden wield before hiding inside the gems shape.

Shade nodded and gripped her two daggers closer as she looked at the distant shape of Gil'ead. Shade was not a religious person by default, her life had been far too unholy for any God to look down upon her with kindness. For the first time in her life, she believed that there was some kind of deity out there, and the man standing next to her would make a lot of people meet them on this night.

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"Your insane." Shade said simply as Aiden trudged ahead of her while trying to find his lost dragon.

"I'm not insane, I'm an adapter." Aiden shot back to her from over his shoulder, not giving her a second glance.

"The plan is absolutely insane. No one would survive it." She bit back with little venom in her voice.

"Good thing I don't need to survive it huh?" He asked cheekily. Shade could practically feel the sass in his voice.

Shade grit her teeth instead of responding to the man in front of her. She had spent weeks traveling with him and she still could not get over his personality. Someone with that much darkness inside him could not be so 'happy' all the time, Shade secretly wondered how he was able to keep up the façade for so long. She pondered all this as they were trying to find their companions.

Aiden Arcstrider. A strange name for someone who held even stranger powers, if she didn't know any better, she would say he was some kind of Grey Folk descendent for how strong he could be at times. When she first felt the awesome thunder he had summoned, she had believed herself to be the strongest person in that cursed sea city after she was 'assigned' there, but when she saw soldiers be disintegrated as though the sun itself had come down upon them… it made her feel small. He had never used the power since however, even though it made him become something close to a God. She didn't know why he hadn't used it again, maybe it took too much energy for him to use often? She could only guess at this point.

"You've been quiet back there." Aiden commented, apparently noticing her silent brooding.

"I have been thinking on many things. It is too time consuming to humor your machinations." She said back with some hostility. Aiden only raised his hands and continued on with their trek.

Before long Shade saw a small light flicker inside the cover of a glen of trees, the light would have been completely impossible to see had Aiden not stuck to the path he had pointed out a few minutes ago. They both snuck up on the small campsite to try and determine who was currently camping out, and Shade was satisfied to see all of the group aside from Eragon sitting around the fire making harsh gestures and noises to each other.

Aiden walked into the camp strangely calm for a man who had just died, the only fun reaction that Shade could see was when Murtagh and Brom both gripped their respective weapons upon hearing the Guardians entrance.

Murtagh and Brom ran over towards the two lost group members in a hurry, Murtagh with subdued joy in his eyes and Brom with wary relief and suspicion. Even though they were now back in a somewhat safe environment, Brom definitely picked up on the fact that Aiden had acquired a shining new set of armor that the old man had never seen before. Aiden had simply told Shade that it was some kind of "Dawning Armor" and left it at that.

"What happened to you two?" Brom asked inquisitively, gesturing to the massive sword upon Aiden's back and the aforementioned armor.

"We got in a fight with something powerful, I managed to fight it off, but they got away with Eragon." Aiden lied casually as he walked past both Murtagh and Brom toward his unconscious dragon. Shade could see a flash of anger in his eyes as a small strip of red appeared in them.

 _"Interesting…"_ Shade thought with a frown upon her face.

Aiden sat down next to Io and started to glide his hand across her, she distinctly saw him muttering spells to check her wounds. Shade let the worried Hunter check over his partner and instead sat down next to the fire as Brom and Murtagh reluctantly did the same. After several minutes of Aiden checking on his dragon with magic, the Guardian got up and walked over to Saphira and started talking with her about his 'plan'.

Saphira widened her eyes as the sheer stupidity of the plan hit her, the dragon then broadcasted the general theme of it to their camping companions and they also jerked back in outrage. It was a common reaction when someone says that they were going to raid a military town by themselves.

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Aiden gripped the saddle on Saphira tighter as they reached the highest altitude the poor dragon could survive. With Aiden's pressurized armor he could survive in the cold harsh environment of space, but Saphira was still a creature of flesh and bone. She needed oxygen to fly and breath, so they were only high enough up to be but a speck of blue if someone were to look up in the daytime. The height they were at was perfect for Aiden's plan anyway.

It had been almost two days since Eragon was taken, and now it was time to get him back.

The cold night air was whistling by them as Aiden unstrapped himself from the saddle. Saphira was not okay with the plan at all, but she trusted Aiden more than enough to understand that the Guardian on her back would get her Rider back, no matter what.

 _"Aiden, are you sure you will be okay?"_ But that didn't mean she wouldn't check to see if he was okay with it.

The Guardian grinned at her from behind his helmet and simply rubbed a small space between her back spikes reassuringly.

"Saphira, I'm going to get your Rider back. Just try to make sure the others get into position in time okay?" He asked her with a self-assured tone, not at all fearful as he hung at the very edge of her saddle prepared to fall for hundreds of feet.

 _"Fine… just be careful."_ She said lowly.

Aiden nodded to her, and then he jumped.

The Guardian dove towards the ground as biting wind started to tear at his cloak with a vengeance, the military town was directly under him and he was approaching it very fast. Not nearly as fast as he needed to be, however.

 _"Stitch, we good?"_ Aiden asked his Ghost with a serious frown on his face. They were passing through the clouds at this point.

 _"Almost."_ Stitch said with conviction as he hurriedly moved through the inventory space and reconfigured a few dozen rockets from their hundreds in storage. He also grabbed a few spare Sparrow booster engines to use.

 _"Stitch, I need more speed please."_ Aiden said as they passed through the clouds and began to grow close enough for the zoom function on his helmet to see individual details of the building they were aiming for. The dining rooms.

According to Brom, the room for eating was the most prominent area in a building like the one Aiden was aiming for. It was large, capable of housing many individuals, and it also had some of the weakest walls and ceilings because it was in the middle of the fort like building. Nobody expected an attack to focus on the middle of a fort, their mistake.

 _"Got it! Let's do this!"_ Stitch exclaimed as two pairs of Sparrow boosters appeared on his Guardians back, lighting up and causing blasts of flame to shoot from them, it also allowed the Hunter to increase his speed exponentially. Stitch then transmatted the three dozen Gjallarhorn rockets into his Guardians hand.

Aiden laughed like a demon as he crashed head first through the ceiling of the building, causing a man or two to fall off the wall as his body crashed into a table and interrupted the eating of a tired soldier. The dead body of Aiden laid on the remains of a table with a massive indentation in the stone beneath him. The soldier who had been eating looked at the dead Guardian with a fearful and curious look as multiple long tubes rolled across the floor, each one beeping with a strange noise.

The man only had one moment to be confused before the scaled down explosive munitions released their payloads, turning the dining room into a hellish inferno as several walls and floors simply stopped existing.

A minute after the Gjallarhorn rockets exploded, Stitch appeared and resurrected his Guardian, who fell to the floor clutching his head as the remnants of his headfirst collision hit him.

"Oooooh hell that hurt." Aiden said as he clutched the helmet concealing his head.

"I mean, you did turn your brain into mush. Are you really surprised that it hurt?" Stitch asked humorously as he transmatted into his Guardians inventory when the shouts of concerned soldiers reached his sensors.

"Eragon still in the cells?" Aiden asked as Fatebringer appeared in his hand and he began to run in the general direction of the aforementioned cells, the Guardian wisely decided to ignore the massive crater he had created in the dining room.

 _"No, he got out somehow as soon as the rockets exploded. The blast might have blown the doors open, or the kid is a lot more resourceful than I originally thought."_ Stitch said as he broadcasted Eragon's position onto the HUD in his Guardians helmet.

Aiden grunted an affirmative as he passed by a room Stitch had determined to be the barracks where the Hunter could distinctly hear the hurried clanking of armor and swords as people frantically questioned what had happened to their fortress. Aiden only sighed in a grim manner before he had Stitch give him another rocket, he threw it into the room and quickly sprinted off as a massive explosion signaled the ending of a few dozen innocent lives.

 _"It needed to be done Aiden."_ Stitch said dejectedly as his Guardians negative emotions washed over him. With those soldiers alive they could pose a threat to the group later on in their jailbreak. As much as Stitch hated to admit it, Uldren had prepared them for a slaughter on such a scale.

 _"I know."_ Aiden said as he passed into a long hallway, where a group of four soldiers were rushing towards the area the prison should have been. Aiden only grunted and lifted his hand cannon towards the men, ending their lives with four trigger pulls.

"So damn easy…" He said simply. Stitch agreed.

After several more minutes and almost a dozen guards fell to Aiden's aptly named hand cannon, the Guardian came into the prison section to a very confusing sight.

Eragon was currently holding on to a girl with pointed ears who was covered in so many bruises and cuts that she might as well have been a pin cushion. Surrounding him were four soldiers who were very cautious as the Rider before them had apparently taken out two highly trained soldiers with but a spoon.

Aiden did a double take as he saw his fellow Rider literally fight off half a dozen soldiers with a spoon, and he had Stitch record it silently as he quickly joined in the fight with magic.

"Letta!" The Guardian exclaimed loudly as he focused his attention on the hearts of each soldier, he was grimly satisfied to see each one fall to the ground clutching their chests in terror before their lives ended right in front of him.

Eragon looked at Aiden in relief and slight terror, but he got his wits together when the Guardian grabbed the woman from his shaky grip and simply gestured down the way he had originally came from. Eragon kept pace with him as the elder Rider carried the elf bridal style down the halls of the fort, he shivered somewhat when he came upon the remnants of several soldiers, each one had a massive hole in their heads.

 _"Where could he get such a weapon?"_ Eragon thought to himself as he glanced at his fellow Rider.

Whenever he saw the man fight, he was reminded of just how inexperienced he was. Aiden went into battle with such vicious weapons and dreadful efficiency that Eragon was always reminded of how small he really was to the man before him, what use was he as a Rider when Aiden outshined him in nearly every way? His thoughts inevitably made it to Saphira, who had made contact with him shortly before he had killed the soldiers. Her words almost caused him to pause before he remembered he was currently in a warzone.

 _"Aiden is a grand fighter, but where he excels in combat, he lacks true skill in personality. He hides himself behind masks upon masks. You will gain his experience my Rider, and you shall remain true to yourself through all this. I swear to you."_ She said to him with a love and care that made Eragon wipe his eyes of tears.

 _"Thank you Saphira… I shall be with you soon."_ Eragon promised her in the Ancient Language, feeling the binding words flow through his core. Her amusement and worry faded away as she let his thoughts become his own, although her presence was still there, watching over him in calm protectiveness.

"Shit!" Aiden exclaimed as he stopped suddenly, causing Eragon to crash into the armored back of his fellow Rider with a shout of pain. Eragon got up blearily as his nose dripped blood, he peeked out from behind Aiden to see what had caused him to stop, and his breath left him in a frantic gasp.

Standing before them with a cracked sword of glimmering silver, a man whose skin was pale as snow, hair red as blood, and eyes flaring with the intensity of dragon fire, was the Shade that had captured Eragon and tortured the elf in Aiden's arms.

"You are still alive…" He rasped out, focused solely on Aiden. Eragon was thankful for such a thing even as he glanced at his fellow Rider in confusion.

"I'm hard to kill." Aiden said simply as he gave Eragon the elf girl, he accepted her with a shaky grip as the Guardian pulled a massive sword from his back that Eragon had not noticed until now. The blade was shimmering with blue arcs of thunder, and Eragon could practically feel the power radiating off of the blade.

"Magic only heals so quickly… someone of immense power must have saved your life… but who?" The man inquired silently as he gazed at Aiden with an intense look. Eragon looked at his fellow Rider with confusion. Aiden silently reached out and put his strange metal weapon into Eragon's hand without breaking his staring contest with the Shade.

"Eragon, get out of here and find Saphira. I need to take care of this guy alone, okay?" Aiden asked with a borderline neutral tone, his voice brokering no argument. Not that Eragon would want to fight the Shade, but leaving his friend alone to fight him was not appealing either. In the end he simply nodded and trusted that his fellow Rider had a plan, he then took off back the way he came, contacting Saphira with a mental shout.

"Alone again, I see." The now identified Shade whispered venomously as he twirled his cracked blade in a circular motion, eyeing the Guardian and his thunder blade all the while.

"Not even been on a first date and you've already impaled me once." Aiden calmly replied with a smirk as Stitch mentally facepalmed. The Shade seemed to have understood the implied meaning behind the Guardians words as his expression shifted from cold annoyance to flaming rage.

"Very well, let us do this dance once more, I can promise you that I won't make the mistake of leaving you alive again." And with those final words, Aiden felt a massive mental presence blast into his defenses. The mental battle was nowhere near the level that he had to deal with while facing Oryx, but he still flinched back when he felt the needle-sharp mental probes stabbing into his projected defenses.

Aiden grit his teeth and charged at the Shade while shaking off all the probes at once and launching his own counter attack, surprising the man long enough for Aiden to blink forward, sliding Bolt-Caster across the Shade's stomach. The blow should have ended the fight then and there, but Aiden was further reminded how supernaturally resilient Shades were when he felt the silver sword slice across his Vex leg, cutting a vital support rod.

"Fuck!" Aiden shouted out harshly as he fell to the floor unceremoniously with a harsh clatter. "You need to cut that shit out!" Aiden spit at the smirking Shade while he saw the pale mans stomach knit itself back together with a few words in the Ancient Language. Aiden did not even want to guess at what words would heal his leg, so he simply let Stitch fix the broken rod. The mental attack returned with a vengeance during the time Aiden was being healed.

Aiden leaped into the air with a boost from his jumps, he soared over the man and muttered some words in the Ancient Language and sent dozens of shards of stone at the back of the Shade. The Guardian laughed to himself when the supernatural creature he was above was impaled by almost all of the stones and the mental battle took a sharp turn in the flying Hunters favor.

Aiden stabbed at the Shade's otherworldly mind with his own mental spikes as he landed behind the somewhat distracted man. The gleaming edge of Bolt-Caster managed to nick the man's arm before the silver blade intercepted a follow up strike aimed at its owners' leg, Aiden wisely backed up a bit as the Shade swung his sword in an attempt to behead the Hunter.

The Shade burst towards the Hunter with pure killing intent leaking from his crooked smile, Aiden gave his own dark grin and swung Bolt-Caster up to intercept the Shade's blade. Sparks flew from both blades as supernatural strength fought against Light enhanced power, and while the pale man was stronger than any human could hope to be, Aiden was a Guardian. Bolt-Caster lit up with pure Arc energy, sending electrical power directly into the spirit filled Shade. The Arc energy flowing through the Shade caused his muscles to tense and become unresponsive, which allowed Aiden to lift his foot up and send it crashing into his opponent, sending him crashing down the hallway and into the massive hole the Guardian's entrance had caused.

"Welcome to Sparta, bitch." Aiden bit out as he caught his breath, resting the tip of Bolt-Caster onto the floor with a smirk.

"You… you simple minded **BOY!** " The Shade roared out, his voice fragmenting and taking on multiple dark and rage filled tones. " **I have killed many of your kind, and I will continue to do so long after your decrepit body turns to dust in my hands!** " With his last declaration of rage, the Shade flung his body at Aiden with a magic infused strike, his silver blade aimed directly at the Guardians heart.

 **"NOW DIE!"**

Aiden did not flinch when the Shade appeared before him in a burst of speed, he was prepared for the supernatural speed of his opponent and had a spell ready by the time the Shade attempted to stab his dark sword into the Guardians heart

"Sverd Reisa!" Aiden exclaimed as Bolt-Caster jerked upwards in a burst of magic, impaling the wide-eyed Shade in the gut and causing him to shout out in rage filled pain.

" **You… damned foo-"** Aiden silenced the Shade with a flare of Arc, causing the man to jerk as he lost control of his body. The Guardian had Stitch transmatt one of his daggers into his free hand, and he stared at the Shade menacingly.

"You've annoyed me enough, have fun where your going buddy." Aiden said darkly as he began to plunge his dagger into the dark heart of the Shade. The supernatural man was watching his impending doom with wide and fearful eyes, and Aiden was grimly satisfied when he felt the skin give purchase.

Whether by fate or by the Shade's design, his death did not come that night. With a massive boom and the falling of dust, Aiden was tripped up by some unseen force and his aim veered to the left, cutting into the Shade's throat. Aiden cursed and went to correct his aim, but the man pushed past the electricity and gripped the dagger stuck in his throat. Before anymore words could be said, the dagger was ripped from Aiden's hand by the evil man and shoved into the Shade's brain, causing his body to explode into a black mist.

Aiden sat there holding onto the wisps of Darkness that the corpse had produced, and he hurled Bolt-Caster into a nearby wall with a shout of pure rage.

 **"FUCK!"**

 _"Aiden, calm dow-."_

 **"I will not calm down!"** Aiden's voice came out dark and distorted, and Stitch had to take a metaphorical step back as his Guardian's rage reached new heights. **"I had him TRAVELER DAMNIT!"**

 **"He tried to kill us! He dared to fight me! And for that he NEEDS TO FUCKING DIE!"** The roar Aiden sent out was more beast then human, and Stitch began to feel genuinely unsettled as his Guardian's vitals began to spike into the red.

 _"Aiden! Well get him next time, but right now you need to CALM DOWN!"_ Stitch shouted out the last bit as his Guardians eyes turned a bright shade of blood red. To make matters worse, his vitals were skyrocketing in a very bad way, indicating a heart attack or some form of stroke.

 _"Aiden, your body is crashing right now. I need you to calm down before something bad happens… Aiden!"_ Stitch shouted the last part when it seemed as though his Guardian was dead to the world, he was simply standing in the hallway growling as his body started to shut down from whatever was affecting him.

Stitch shook his shell plates and decided his method wasn't going to work, so he took a risk and tranmatted himself right in front of his animalistic Guardian. Aiden jerked towards the Ghost with a dark look in his blood red eyes, and Stitch flinched back when his Hunter grabbed a knife in preparation to stab him.

"Aiden… it's me bud." Stitch said with as little fear in his voice as he could. His Guardian didn't need fear, he needed his friend.

 **"Nghhh…"** Aiden grunted out in a struggle, his knife wielding hand clearly struggling with itself as it dipped towards and away from the Ghost shakily.

"Aiden, remember when we first met? Remember what I said to you?" Stitch asked, floating closer towards his Guardian slowly. Aiden only growled at him lowly.

"You had just come back to the land of the living. I could feel your confusion and your fear, you had no idea what was happening…" Stitch reminisced lowly, going closer to his Guardian's head as his vitals began to lower.

"My first words to you were…"

"eyes up, guardian…" Aiden choked out as reached out slowly and shakily held onto his Ghost like a lifeline, dropping his dagger with a clatter. Stitch nodded his shell up and down as Aiden's mind seemed to clear from its animalistic rage, leaving him more drained than either of them had ever remembered being. The Ghost soon noticed small drops of water impacting the floor below him, and he did his best to give comfort when his Guardian started to sob uncontrollably.

Stitch had never seen his Guardian like this before, but he would be damned if he did not help him through it.

They sat like that for what felt like hours, Ghost and Guardian simply standing and trying to calm themselves. Eventually Aiden let go of his lifelong friend and grabbed the dagger he had dropped, sheathing it with a dull clink. Stitch transmatted Bolt-Caster back into the inventory silently.

"let's go home, stitch." Aiden whispered coarsely as he nodded to his friend. The Ghost gave a nod back and reached out through the network he had created earlier, and they both disappeared from the ruined hallway with a flash of light.

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 **Authors notes.**

 **Been a while, hasn't it?**

 **Been working on this chapter for a long time, several scenes and moments were the most difficult things I have ever written just for the reasons of I had no idea how to start or finish them.**

 **Along with this chapter being the longest one I have ever written, it will also be the point where I begin to go back and fix some later chapters that I find to be rather dull or unfulfilling. Chapter 8 will be my first fix and I hope I can get rid of that terrible rushed vibe I unintentionally gave it.**


	14. Dark Revelations

Eragon ran down the halls as fast as he could with the elf girl slung over his shoulders, the strain from holding on to the girl and the strange metal weapon Aiden had given him would have been easy had he not starved himself for almost a day. Eragon was both honored and confused as to why his fellow Rider had entrusted him with his weapon, but the young man soon understood when two guards burst out of a door down the hall he was traveling in. Eragon gripped the elf and the weapon in fear as he realized he had no sword or bow to defend himself with, but with a glance down at the gleaming weapon he had been given, he pointed it at the guards and imitated how he had seen Aiden use it.

The first two bullets missed their mark, one hitting a soldier in the leg and another flying way over their heads as the recoil caused Eragon's aim to jerk upward in surprise. The Rider cursed himself and set his aim back towards the only soldier still standing, and he pulled the trigger once. Eragon was satisfied to see that he had hit the mark correctly this time, causing the soldier to fall to the ground next to his partner with a scream and a bleeding leg.

Eragon ran by the soldiers and contacted Saphira in a rush.

 _"Saphira! Where are you?"_ He asked seriously while his breath began to come out in ragged gasps. He was exhausted.

 _"I am close, hold on for just a moment my Rider."_ She said seriously, ending the communication there.

Eragon grunted and began to run again, dreading when he came upon a long spiral staircase that wound upward into the fort. The Rider started to climb them while keeping Aiden's weapon as far away from him and the elf as he could, he did not need to accidentally shoot himself or the girl he held.

As Eragon burst from the door at the top of the staircase, he gasped and jerked backwards harshly when his mind registered what awaited him.

Almost a dozen soldiers had been standing watch on the stone wall, each one carrying sword, spears, and other mismatched weapons. Each one alert and ready for war, and each one looking directly at the young Rider in surprise.

Eragon backed up slowly as he lowered the elf from his shoulder. The soldiers were beginning to advance on him, so with shaking hands he raised the weapon Aiden had given him and prepared to fire.

Eragon shot the first soldier to the best of his ability, but he was inexperienced with the dangerous weapon, so the shot went wide and instead hit another guards foot. While the soldier dealt with losing one of his feet, the others charged Eragon with reckless abandon, each lifting their bladed weapons as Eragon fired at them desperately.

 _"I AM HERE ERAGON!"_ Saphira shouted into her Rider's mind as she slammed into the area directly in front of Eragon, releasing a massive shockwave that threw everyone around her to the ground. Eragon cursed as he fell, dropping Aiden's weapon as it scattered to the edge of the roof and fell into a dark crevasse.

Eragon hoped Aiden would not be too upset with him for losing the weapon, but he had bigger problems to deal with as the area Saphira landed on was starting to crack from the force of her sudden landing. The young Rider grabbed the elf and flung her over his shoulder recklessly, he had no time for gentleness as he ran towards Saphira's saddle and began to strap in as the soldiers got up groggily.

 _"Saphira, go!"_ Eragon shouted as he finished strapping both himself and the elf to the saddle, he gripped one of Saphira's back spines tightly as he felt his dragon lurch forwards to get a running takeoff. Eragon heard the distinctive snapping of bones as Saphira ran over and through several of the soldiers who were not fast enough to get out of the way, but before either dragon or Rider had to deal with being impaled by metal weapons, Saphira leaped into the air and they began to flee the castle with speed.

"By the Gods, you came just in time!" Eragon panted as he clung to his dragon and the elf, his body heaving with exhaustion.

 _"I aim to please, little one."_ Saphira said smugly, Eragon noticed that she had no trouble carrying two people with a small amount of pride.

"What about Aiden, will he be alright?" Eragon asked as his fellow Rider popped into his head suddenly.

 _"Aiden told us he will meet with us soon, but that we should begin our plans to cross the desert as soon as you were safe."_

"The desert!? Why would we need to go through there?" Eragon asked loudly as his breathing began to slow and calm down, although the news caused it to spike up a bit.

 _"According to Brom it is the fastest way of getting to the Varden. He informed us that he could not train you properly while being hunted by the King and his minions. The desert is the safest place to be where an army cannot follow."_

Eragon nodded tiredly, the words his partner was speaking made sense, although he was still hesitant to leave Aiden behind. With a Shade no less! In the end he made sure the elf was strapped in tight, and drifted off to a fitful sleep.

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Aiden and Stitch flashed into existence several miles away from the city they had just been in. Stitch looked around in annoyance before he started to curse loudly next to his mentally drained Guardian.

"I knew I should have given it to Brom, by the Traveler I'm such an idiot!" Stitch complained loudly as his Guardian looked around for his dragon, growing confused and worried as he did not see the rest of the group.

"where are we, Stitch?" Aiden asked quietly, glancing at his annoyed Ghost.

"No idea, Io must have dropped the transmatt beacon we gave her. Now the only way to find them is by searching!" Stitch said, causing his Guardian's frown to deepen. He was having trouble remembering exactly what the plan had been after saving Eragon, his mind was slow and sluggish after whatever had happened. Stitch seemed to notice it as well.

"Are you alright Aiden?" His Ghost asked quietly, concern practically leaking from his mind.

"I'm… I'm fine stitch… how do we find them now?" Aiden asked lowly, his tone unsure, as if he was hesitant to have his voice heard. Stitch did not believe his Guardian one bit, but he let it slide so they could focus on their next move.

"We won't be able to catch up to them without a Sparrow, so we'll have to use one until we get in mental communication range. If that doesn't work than we might have to find the Varden on our own." Stitch said as he transmatted himself into his Guardians inventory.

"yea… yea, let's find io." Aiden whispered more to himself than to Stitch.

The worn and tired Guardian was prepared for his Sparrow to transmatt in front of him, he was even more ready to fall into its comfortable seat and glide far away from the city he had just left. Aiden grabbed ahold of the handles of his Gjallarwing and pulsed the engines once, twice, and then the Guardian blasted forward towards the direction his friends were supposed to be heading in. Stitch stayed silent all the while, only directing his Guardian when they started to drift off course.

Stitch did not voice his feelings to Aiden, but the Ghost was deeply concerned about his Guardian. They had seen numerous defeats for every victory, but losing to the Shade had been a relatively small loss, so it was extremely unlike his Guardian to have such a severe reaction to it. His thoughts inwardly traveled towards the one responsible for bringing them to Alagaësia. Valandra.

 _"What did you bring us here for...?"_ Stitch thought silently, blocking out his questions and confusion from Aiden. The man had enough on his plate as it was. Stitch simply sat back and waited after that, hoping nothing else would cause his Hunter to lose control.

Stitch was unsure if he could stop his Guardian if he lost control again.

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Eragon looked at the ominous desert before him as he flew high above his friends on Saphira, Io trying her best to keep up with the two as she strained her wings against the forces of gravity.

 _"I don't like this…"_ Eragon muttered as he surveyed the farthest reaches of the desolate land that he could, hoping to catch sight of an oasis or pool of water that would assist them in making it through the scorching climate.

 _"It is our only choice young one."_ Saphira said reassuringly, trying to calm her Rider's roaming thoughts.

Ever since they had been forced to flee from Aiden, Eragon and Io had both become distraught. Although Io felt the full force of loneliness as she lost her partner of heart and mind, Eragon was still feeling conflicting emotions because of the events of the prison break.

 _"What if he doesn't know where were supposed to go? Even Brom is unsure if the Varden's locations is still the same."_ Eragon said with a bit of pessimism leaking into his voice.

Saphira only lowered her head as her Rider fell silent, she was thankful that he seemed to sense her mood on the matter. There was no need to make Io feel as though she was to lose her partner just because a desert separated them.

Speaking of the young dragon…

Saphira looked back at the other dragon, her glittering amethyst scales reflected the sun back in a bright purple ray that would have blinded anyone staring too closely. The elder dragon admired the fact that Io was keeping her calm, Saphira had often lost her temper when her Rider had become lost or otherwise unavailable. Saphira also noted with a hint of jealousy that Io was growing far faster than she did. At almost four months of age the younger dragon had grown as large as Saphira was at six months, A fact that Brom pointed out with much curiosity.

 _"See something, Saphira?"_ Eragon asked her cheekily as her feelings of admiration and pride leaked over towards him, his grin threatening to turn into full blown laughter as Saphira huffed and lowered her head beyond his view.

 _"Nothing you would find interesting, young one."_ Saphira said shortly, keeping her feelings of embarrassment from going through the Link.

 _"I am sure, you seem rather taken with her, don't you?"_ Her Rider asked with ever growing mirth, Saphira wanted to twist her neck around and nip at the cheeky young one, but that would only prove him right. She kept silent instead.

Eragon laughed as the seconds turned into minutes without a response from his prideful dragon, he patted her scales once before looking back towards where Gil'ead was now a speck in the distance. Distantly, Eragon could see a large mass of soldiers moving towards their position, causing the young Rider's mood to drop as Aiden once again entered his mind.

His Rider friend was a strong man, but even Aiden could not fight off an army.

Eragon steeled himself and contacted Brom to tell him that he was ready to traverse the desert, ready to face his first step in becoming a Rider of legend.

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Aiden stood with his Gjallarwing stationary next to him, his eyes were tired and circled by dark skin. Stitch could not find the source of whatever had caused his condition, but the Ghost had reported nothing was currently wrong with him.

Both knew that it wasn't true, but until they found out what happened they could do nothing about it.

Aiden was watching his friends move across the desert slowly. Brom, Murtagh, and Shade were walking along the dunes while wind buffeted them constantly. Eragon, Saphira, and Io were in the sky, drifting far above the dunes. Aiden lowered his gaze as soon as his helmets zoom function latched on too Io, his soul filled with guilt for what he was about to do.

 _"We don't have to do this Aiden…"_ Stitch said to his Guardian, hoping to try and make him see some reason. Every moment they strayed from their group could prove fatal.

 _"we can't let them be found here Stitch, that army will tear them all apart."_ Aiden said back lowly, moving away from his Sparrow as it transmatted to the inventory. Aiden gazed over the distant dunes, looking towards the unseen black mass of Urgal's that were amassing on the other side of the desert.

The pair had found them gathering near the edge of the desert, Stitch had saw the small speck that they were at the time, and Aiden investigated. What he found was an army consumed by something powerful.

The Urgal's were all complacent and moved as one unite, united by something alien and powerful that Aiden dared not try to antagonize in his drained state. He knew that the Urgal's were not under their own control, they moved as though they were Vex, controlled by a mind more powerful than theirs, although they seemed to keep their thoughts and personalities, they did not move towards the Varden on their own free will.

His plan was simple. Kill them all.

Stitch doubted that the small army was all the forces that were being amassed against what he guessed to be the Varden, but it was at least a few hundred strong. More than enough to overwhelm almost any normal forces that Alagaësia held. At the Urgal's current pace, they would arrive to the entrance of the mountains just as their friends would, maybe sooner.

Aiden started to walk towards the forces with his camouflaged Exodus armor, shaders applied that matched the desert colors perfectly. The only way the Urgal's or his friends would see him at this distance was through scopes or thermal imaging systems, something neither group had.

 _"I won't let them get hurt again."_ Aiden swore silently, picking up speed to arrive at the army's location at sunset. The perfect time to kill.

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Aiden slid on his stomach across the dark and freezing dunes of the desert, his blades and armor were covered in a new black camo that removed their sheen and bright glare in the face of any light, the perfect thing to have for any black ops.

The Guardian slipped into his role as a killer very easily, he put barely any thought into what he did. The normal Guardian, defender of the people, savior of the Last City and avenger of Cayde was gone. Now all that stood in his place was a trained killer, someone that was used to doing all of the Vanguards dirty work before the Red War ended. Aiden felt nothing as he snuck up on an Urgal that had decided to slow down and catch its breath, a foolish mistake that none of his Sol enemies ever would have made. It proved to be his last as Aiden plunged his knife into the creature's neck, severing its spine and causing it to scream into the hand now covering its large mouth. Aiden waited patiently for its breath to stop coming as it slumped in his arms, he let it fall to the ground with a dull thud.

Aiden smiled as he found himself free from doubt, free from guilt or the thoughts of everything he had lost. In such a place like this, there was no room for feelings or hesitance, there was only room for quick and cruel death. It was one of the reasons why he was revered and respected in the Black Ops section of the Vanguard. Someone that could turn off their feelings on a dime was to be cherished in the dark and gritty life that Guardians lived.

Aiden silently moved past the dead body, confirming that whatever was controlling the Urgal's did not notice or care that its soldiers were dying. That likely meant it was not actual mind control, but some form of compulsion or charm that drove their thoughts. It made it all the easier for Aiden to pick off the outliers one by one.

While the slaughter lasted for almost an hour, the fun had to end as one of the Urgal's turned around just as Aiden had finished taking out another Urgal by stabbing it in the heart. Aiden cursed as the Urgal that saw him shouted out in alarm, alerting the rest of its friends before it turned back to find a knife embedded in its skull.

Aiden had Stitch transmatt Quickfang into his hand, watching with a dark smile as the Urgal's started to surround him, the whole army rushing with vigor and lunged teeth to get a look at the person who had silently been killing them.

Before long, an Urgal that was far larger than all the others pushed its way into the circle that had formed around Aiden. The creature was missing one of its massive horns, and its fur was dirty and dingy, covered with large splotches of black blood from its time sparring on the road. To the surprise of Aiden, it spoke.

"Black Warrior, you slay my people. Explain, now!" It roared, the foolish empty-headed cows joining in as they saw an imminent victory sitting in front of them, unaware of the danger they were in.

Aiden had Stitch modulate his voice as he spoke, causing it to rumble out in a deep hellish sounding parody of his normal voice. _" **I am Galanor of Sol, and I shall give you one chance to leave."**_ At this, pure Solar energy burst to life on Aiden's armor, turning him into a figment of pure malevolence, and making several Urgal's back up in fear as the fire turned the area around the Guardian to glass. **_"Before I kill you all."_ **Aiden finished as the flame began to burn even brighter, making all the Urgal's squint at him as the glare become even more intense.

The only one who did not back down was the supposed chief, who simply grabbed a massive battle axe from its back and grinned at the burning Guardian with an intense bloodlust.

"We refuse!" The beast shouted, before it swung its axe into the air and bellowed out a massive roar that its clan emulated. Aiden only had a moment to admire their foolish bravery before the first Urgal broke rank and charged at him.

It died barely a second later from a Solar powered knife to the throat, gurgling out as its body exploded in a flare of Sol.

Several Urgal's adopted their fearful looks again as Aiden charged into battle, ignoring the wide eyed chieftain in favor of his foot soldiers. The Guardian grinned as he let himself turn over to the need for battle within him.

Unlike with the soldiers that Shade sent against him, he felt no remorse in his killings. To the Guardian, killing humans felt like going against his very nature, his very reason for existing. But killing Urgal's? it felt very liberating for the beast of a Guardian when the first of the creatures fell to the ground in agony as the Solar energy around Aiden melted his flesh.

Several more died similar ways, each one burned alive as the intense Solar flames tour into them. it was all rather satisfying for Aiden to watch, but eventually he had to reluctantly turn off his flames at Stitch's behest. He had wasted enough Light as it was.

That did not mean his brutal attack on the convoy ended there. In fact, with his Light no longer in play, Aiden decided to increase the pace. His movements became a blur to the Urgal's he was slaughtering, arrows from archers further back occasionally glanced his armor, but the Exodus plates were built to survive Vex munitions.

It was akin to throwing rocks at a Warsat with the intent to damage it, it just did not work.

As Aiden was flowing through the Urgal's with reckless abandon, his head began to throb in an annoying burst of pain. The Guardian ignored the feeling for a time, but eventually the pain began to increase, and Stitch started to notice.

 _"Aiden, Are you okay? Your heart is starting to beat out of rhythm."_ The Ghost asked in concern as his Guardian simply ignored him, more focused on fighting off the horde than worrying about pain. Aiden continued that way for some time, until eventually an extremely powerful burst of pain from his leg caused him to falter, allowing a sword to come full force and slash into his unarmored side.

 _"Aiden, what's going on?"_ Stitch shouted out as his Guardian got to his feet again, ignoring everything around him as he ended the life of the Urgal that took blood from him with a Solar powered knife.

He did not get another chance to end a life, as agony coursed through his veins and he fell to the floor clutching his leg. Aiden's vision became distorted, and he found the desert around him transforming before his eyes.

 _Aiden jerked his head to the side as a high velocity round blasted through the space his head had been a moment before. The round exploded into the ground next to Aiden's foot as more gunfire peppered the space around the hiding Guardian._

 _Aiden lifted Hawkmoon up to his chest as he checked his radar silently, pleased to see that no one was taking the moment to sneak up on him while his shield recharged._

"Stitch, you told me they didn't have any sniper specialists." _Aiden said through their link as he grabbed a small mirror from his ammo pouch and put it out into the open, getting a small glimpse of a sniper's glare before the mirror and his fingers were obliterated by a high caliber round._

"They must have trained outside of the Hidden's sight, which means they probably have a few more surprises up their sleeves." _Stitch said quickly as he healed his complaining Guardians hand, feeling smug._

 _Aiden frowned, but he stayed silent as the rogue Guardians began to fire on his position once more._

"How the hell were they even able to get ahold of the knowledge to build their own Darkness Weapons?" _Aiden asked Stitch as he grabbed ahold of an invisibility grenade, prepping the button while readying his Hawkmoon._

"Sources vary, but the Hidden say that someone from outside the City gave them the info, they also theorize that it might have been the Shadows of Yor." _Stitch said with disgust, Aiden agreed with him._

 _The Shadows, while innocent of any crimes in their own rights, had still sent many Guardians new and old on the road of Darkness. Aiden had hunted down several members of the group in the past as their casual use of the infamous Thorn turned into a real threat when they began researching how to make Weapons of Sorrow._

 _Needless to say, the group was watched heavily by the Hidden, and the fireteam he was currently chasing were trying to make a new weapon that could rival or even overshadow the Thorn. Aiden refused to let that happen, so the Vanguard Black Op's had sent him out to eliminate them._

 _The Guardian could not be happier for the chance to do so, but being pinned down by three fanatical rogues was not how he wanted it to happen. Aiden activated the device in his hand and smiled grimly as a blast of gas released from it, turning him invisible and making the fireteam he was hunting shout out warnings._

 _The Hunter began to prowl._

 _His first target was the Warlock, an Awoken female who had been resurrected twenty years ago, average intelligence, known for using Void powers above all others, and has extreme trouble spotting the small patterns of cloaked creatures. She died quickly as Aiden stabbed a knife into her head, her body thumping to the ground as gunfire peppered the Guardians position._

 _Stitch quickly transmatted the body away, putting a Light suppresser on the dead body before it disappeared . Aiden was thankful for this as a massive Titan charged towards him, the lumbering man's body flaring up with Arc energy as Aiden aimed Hawkmoon at him._

 _Five shots and a close call with a Titan charge later, the Guardian fell to the floor with several new holes as the final rogue started to shoot at Aiden, a sniper round blowing through his chest and making him gasp out in pain._

"Shit, Stitch, don't come out!" _Aiden shouted into the link, ducking down as Stitch transmatted the Titans body away. The wound blew a massive chunk out of his chest, and the only thing that kept him alive was the healing power of his Ghost._

"Screw this, time to try a new tactic." _Aiden said lowly as he jumped up and began to charge at the sniper's position, using his gun to provide covering fire for himself as he steadily inched towards his fellow Hunters position._

 _Aiden prepared to fire one last shot, but the sniper beat him to the punch._

 _Hawkmoon exploded violently as a round flew through the guns barrel, destroying the gun, its ammo, and Aiden's arm as the sniper round exploded and caused his own bullets to do the same._

 _Aiden gasped and was staggered backwards from the surprise, but before he had time to pull another weapon out, the Hunter jumped from his perch and used his momentum to kick Aiden directly in the chest. The blow sent Aiden reeling as he flew backwards for a few feet, leaving plenty of time for the other Hunter to straddle Aiden and attempt to plunge a knife into his body._

 _The pinned Guardian raised his arm up and let the dagger pierce into his only remaining arm, causing agony to sprout across the limb, but also saving his life as the blade became stuck. Aiden grabbed the surprised Hunters arm and pulled him close, before he reared his head back and bashed it against the rogue, breaking both of their helmets and plunging Aiden into black as his HUD failed._

 _Aiden blinked out of the position he was in as he ripped off his helmet as quickly as he could. His speedy recovery allowed him to nimbly dodge a sword that would have decapitated him. The Rogue recovered from his failed hit and brought his blade up for a follow up strike, Aiden grabbed a knife and brought it up to meet the other blade._

 _The Vanguard Hunters weapon barely held against the blade, and Aiden got face to face with the Rogues cracked helmet. The Rogue Hunter had his helmet transmatted away, revealing a vicious grin to Aiden right as he heard the ignition of a Golden Gun right below him._

 _Aiden widened his eyes and dodged quickly to the right, feeling an intense burn along his side, the first shot missing its fatal mark, but also bringing the Guardian to the ground in pain._

 _Aiden looked up towards the smirking Rogue, his Golden Gun tinted black as Darkness practically oozed out of it. Aiden glared at the man as the Not-So-Golden Gun was aimed at his head, and he closed his eyes and prepared for his final death._

 _A sound like thunder rang out in the small battlefield as the Hunter fell to the floor, body disintegrating into small flakes of fire._

Aiden gasped, his vision returning, his senses flailing, and his heart beating a mile a minute. He groggily looked around and noticed with some growing apprehension that the army of Urgal's he had been engaging before were all gone.

If you counted torn to shreds by a knife as gone.

 _"…Aiden"_ Stitch said quietly, causing said Guardian to jerk his head sharply.

"stitch..." Aiden whispered as he looked down, seeing his armor covered in black blood from head to toe, he also noticed with a wince that several body parts were simply stuck to his armor.

"what-, what happened…?" Aiden asked, dreading the answer he would get.

 _"You lost control again… It was like you simply turned into an animal Aiden… this is beyond what we thought, its beyond anything I have ever seen."_ Aiden lowered his head as he heard this, which allowed him to see the gleaming barrel of a familiar hand cannon buried near his legs. Aiden froze.

"…stitch, why is that here?" Aiden said coarsely, his eyes never leaving the gun as Stitch saw it too.

 _"You asked me to give it to you, before you lost control… I figured it would help you focus, all it did was make you more rabid."_ Stitch replied.

Aiden reluctantly grabbed the handle of his hand cannon. The once proud gleaming gun was now a shadow of itself, covered with rust and bits of corrupted metal, the Last Word had little left of the beauty it once held.

 _"what happened to it?"_ Aiden questioned Stitch, holding the cannon in a vice grip.

 _"I don't know Aiden. It started to do that as soon as you touched it."_ Stitch said, reluctantly.

Aiden shook his head when the news reached his head, he almost tossed the hand cannon back as soon as the implication hit him.

Weapons like the Last Word were special, they held the Light of any individual Guardian who wielded the weapon long enough. Often called exotics by the gun designers of the City, they were weapons of immense power that were highly coveted by humanity.

The fact that the Last Word, the gun of one of his friends, was now a corrupted piece of metal made his heart ache with sadness.

Aiden grimly nodded to Stitch as he slowly put the weapon on his side, replacing Fatebringer was no easy task, but Aiden knew that the Last Word was some form of sign. Whether or not it was from himself or from the thing that was causing him to lose control was not something he wanted to think about.

Aiden got to his feet slowly, if it was possible, his mind felt even more sluggish than usual after his recent blackout. The Guardian did his best to ignore the shredded bodies around him as he set his sight on the distant mountain peaks, where his friends would be soon.

Stitch did the Ghost equivalent of a frown as Aiden simply shrugged off the event, his Guardian did not even seem to care that he was steadily losing control of himself. Stitch knew that his friends mental state had much to be desired, but the Ghost had a feeling it was not his Guardians fault.

Unnoticed by either of them, was the dark shadow that flickered into existence on Aiden's blood-soaked gauntlet, disappearing a second later as the Ghost and Guardian pair walked away into the desert, leaving the dead army behind them in silence.

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Aiden traveled through the slick sand at a walker's pace, his cloak flowing behind him as he made his way further into the desert. Each step sunk deep into the sand and each gust of wind almost blew off his hood, but it miraculously stayed put, The Guardian was thankful for that.

Behind the shadow of the hood was a face fit for a man who had not slept for several days. Aiden's eyes were ringed with black circles, and his normally clean grey eyes were bloodshot. Stitch had done everything he could think of to figure out why his Guardians body was reacting the way it was, but nothing had been found.

It had been almost two days of traveling for the pair, using Sparrow's and normal running methods, they calculated that they would arrive at the mountains twelve hours after Brom's group. Stitch said it would not be wise to arrive at the mountains before the group, as they had two dragons and multiple horses to assist them, while Aiden had nothing that could be easily explained away.

The Guardian did not have a problem with walking, it took him back to the days before his exile from the Tower. Back when his duties as a Guardian were to simply patrol the planets of the Sol system, looting and fighting whenever he could. Those days had been the most peaceful, with his team by his side and no world ending threats on the horizon.

Aiden clenched his fist and banished the memories from his mind, there was no time to think on such things when he was getting close to the entrance of the Beor Mountains. The Guardian and Ghost were, honestly impressed by them. the Mountains reached all the way to the sky, and snow covered the higher peaks like a Fallen on loot.

The Hunter took a seat at the entrance to the mountains. His mind slowly unwound itself as he checked the items scattered across his armor, from the hidden knives to the holstered Last Word resting on his thigh. Aiden wished he could enjoy the peace.

"We need to talk." Stitch said as he appeared before his Guardians hood, staring into the tired eyes of the man.

"bout what?" Aiden mumbled curiously, his lack of enthusiasm highly apparent.

"Whatever is happening to you. I've done about three dozen checkups and scans of your body, but nothing is showing up even though you're clearly suffering from some form of sickness. If I wasn't so concerned, I would be stupefied that whatever is causing this is hiding from my scans." Stitch explained calmly as he floated near his Guardians face.

"I'm fine, stitch. whatever this is can't beat me." Aiden said while doing his best to keep an honest grin on his face. It fell when Stitch raised one of his shell plates up in an obvious imitation of an eyebrow.

"We both know you don't believe that."

"gotta believe in something."

"Why are you always so difficult?"

"I learned from the best." Aiden said as Stitch floated back a small bit in surprise.

"You've been very open about him lately." Stitch said slowly after his shock wore off.

"gotta heal somehow. he's dead, doesn't mean I gotta forget him.

Stitch only nodded his shell once, before he transmatted a small bundle of cloth into his Guardians hand, making the man raise his eyebrows in curious surprise.

"what's this then?" Aiden asked quietly as he shifted the item around to get a feel for what it was.

"Piece of home. You always liked to look at it and remember where you came from." Stitch said as he watched his Guardian unfold the cloth, revealing a small chipped piece of rock. Aiden was silent for a long time as he gazed at the familiar memento, something he stopped using around the time he lost himself in the Vault of Glass.

"you kept this thing?" Aiden whispered quietly as memories flew through his mind unbidden.

"I kept a piece of the rock I revived you on? Of course I did. Your sentimentality rubbed off on me when you threw it into the void in the Vault."

"I didn't do that on purpose…"

"Of course you did, you were grieving and you lashed out without thinking."

"your memory is starting to piss me off little light." Aiden grumbled tiredly as he stuffed the rock into one of his pouches silently.

"What do you want to do now?" Stitch asked as he silently floated over towards Aiden's shoulder and rested his shell on it.

Aiden stayed silent and stared up at the dark sky above him, only then noticing that it was practically night out. His eyes traced the sky and found the small stars twinkling above, a sight that used to fill him with such hope now only elicited a dull tiredness.

What did he want? Aiden had spent his whole life thinking about what others wanted, what his role in the cosmic plan was. His life had never really been about what he wanted, even when he was banished from the City he had spent his time letting Io and Stitch lead the way, allowing his friends to take up the burden of deciding where they could possibly go to find a home.

Aiden clenched his fists and closed his eyes and tried to think, to decide exactly what it was he _wanted_ out of the life the Traveler had given him.

Situations and events flew through his head. Io and Stitch sitting with him in the woods as they prepared for another night of being away from civilization. Io flying high above the clouds with him on her back, enjoying the feeling of the wind. Stitch sitting in a dusty library and reading all the ancient tomes he could want. Aiden growled a bit as he realized he was only thinking about what his friends would want.

"I don't know." Aiden said as the tension left his body as he blocked the emotions from his thoughts.

Stitch nodded along, he felt that those three words were probably the most honest things his Guardian had ever said since arriving in Alagaësia.

"Then well figure it out, together." Stitch said with finality as he transmatted back into the inventory.

"Together." Aiden mumbled as he got up and began to walk into the mountains.

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 **"Is he ready for it?"**

 **"Doubtful. Mind not in mental condition to comprehend words."**

 **"We have underestimated ones like him before, we cannot afford to make mistakes here. Especially with this one."**

 **"Analysis has indicated his intelligence to be average among his kind. His wit is exemplary but not high enough to make up for diminished mental capacity."**

 **"Your analysis has been wrong before."**

 **"Uncontrolled variable introduced into environment. Mistake occurred because of incomplete data, such an occurrence will not happen here."**

 **"We shall see. We will let the beast's words reach him for now if you truly believe it will decrease the likelihood of him Awakening."**

 **"Blocker has been deactivated. It has begun."**

 **"…"**

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The Beor Mountains hid many secrets according to the local lore Stitch had gathered. Mythical creatures, giant plants and animals capable of eating a man in one gulp, all fanciful stories that reminded Aiden of the wilds of Venus.

With less Fallen of course.

Little could be done except for turning on his night vision when the tall mountain walls started to block out what little light the moon offered. Aiden and Stitch did not complain about the conditions, stealth would only be increased with the ever present darkness surrounding them.

 _"You know, I've been thinking about why the Last Word reacted the way it did."_ Stitch said to Aiden as they silently walked through a small valley inside the confines of the mountain walls.

Aiden lowered his head in thought for a moment before responding. _"And why do you think it did?"_ The Guardian asked quietly.

 _"When you were in your… animal like state, it was almost like your mind was gone. Not missing or destroyed, just in the backseat while whatever it is took over."_ Stitch said in his lecture voice, tactfully ignoring how his Guardian rolled his eyes. _"My theory is that with the gun being intimately connected to your mind and Light, when your mind got in the backseat, it had a negative effect on the gun."_ The Ghost finished.

The Hunter nodded along with his Ghost, the words he was speaking made perfect sense to Aiden. The Last Word was a gun that differed from his regular weapons in that it seemed to respond to his feelings and thoughts, whenever he was feeling negative emotions, the gun was also negatively impacted.

Stitch had said something like that was practically unheard of, even Banshee had never heard of a weapon being powered by its wielder's emotions. Aside from Weapons of Sorrow, but those were in a category that few Vanguard weaponsmiths had ever studied.

 _"Surprisingly, that makes perfect sense."_ Aiden admitted with a shrug of his shoulders as he approached a small waterfall that was flowing from a hole in the rock above him. The Hunter sat himself down and had Stitch send him a large canteen which he began to fill with the life-giving liquid.

 _"But that begs the question, why hasn't it returned to normal if your mental state is now back to normal?"_ Stitch asked conversely.

 _"Who knows. The only person who could have told us why the Last Word does what it does is probably in a whole other galaxy."_ The Hunter nodded once the canteen was full, he took a small sip to see if it was drinkable, then had Stitch put it away in the inventory when he determined it was safe.

 _"All these mysteries that we can't solve without someone else there to guide us. No wonder you like other people leading the way."_ Aiden wisely decided not to comment on his Ghosts words and instead began his slow march to the Varden, again.

 _"At this point I almost wish Valandra would give us some answers."_ Stitch complained while his Hunter nodded along.

 **She would speak only lies**

Aiden tensed for a moment, but continued on when he realized that whatever was speaking to him was no threat, for now.

 _"You hear that too bud?"_ Aiden asked Stitch in a bored tone.

 _"I did, actually. It is highly concerning how they keep doing that."_ Stitch replied back almost instantly.

 **You trust the Mad God, the undoing of many came at her hands. I seek only to warn you.**

Aiden and Stitch blinked in surprise as the voice seemed to change, the previously feminine tones turning to a low male's voice.

 _"Mad God?"_ Aiden questioned, his surprise at the sudden voice change put in the backseat.

 **She brings destruction. Be wary of which side of it you are on.**

Aiden and Stitch exchanged feelings of worry at that, their last encounters with gods had been harrowing fights to the deaths, and if Valandra was really bringing destruction to the land, they would likely have to fight her off.

 _"That doesn't make any sense… how come we haven't seen this 'destruction' if Valandra is bringing it here?"_ Stitch asked, likely trying to come into contact with the voice again.

No one responded.

 _"Well your just not very helpful are you?"_ The Ghost called out irately.

 _"She brings destruction…"_ The Guardian muttered, deep in thought.

 _"Aiden?"_ Stitch asked in puzzlement as he saw his Guardians emotions and mind become clouded. Like he was blocking something off.

 _"Valandra implied she couldn't just mess with this place… she's scared someone will find her, and if even transmatting me could get her in trouble, we would have noticed if she was being destructive…"_ The Guardian mumbled out, Stitch putting the pieces together to try and see what his friend was getting at.

 _"I don't understand what your trying to say Aiden."_ Stitch replied with a puzzled voice.

Said Guardian blinked for a moment as he put his hand on his face and began to grumble into it. Stitch almost began to feel worried that his Guardian was going to lose control again, but he simply dropped his hand and continued walking.

 _"Never mind, I'm putting too much thought into this… we probably shouldn't just trust whatever that thing says anyway."_ And with that, the conversation was done.

Stitch felt himself grow apprehensive. His Guardian was not one for hiding things from him, and without understanding the mans mindset Stitch could not accurately understand what exactly he thought of that would make him become reclusive like that.

The Ghost did not like being in the dark, especially with his friend.

 _"Any idea how close we are to the Varden?"_ Aiden asked his friend as he began to exit the 'valley' they had been traveling through. The Hunters eyes began to search the dark cliff faces for anything of interest, although the night vision diminished his ability to see perfectly.

"A few more days of travel I would say. Like I said before, we can't arrive too fast or they will become suspicious of how we were able to get there so quickly without a horse." Stitch said after he transmatted himself out of the inventory to scan a plant that caught his eye. Aiden watched with a bemused expression.

"Great, feels weird to be away from Io for this long." Aiden commented with a laugh as Stitch floated over towards him and they continued traveling.

"I agree." The Ghost replied as he set himself on his Guardians shoulder.

The pair traveled along the dark mountains for the required days. The time was spent with idle chatter and the testing of plants and the occasional animal that thought it could fight a Guardian. Aiden began to feel his normal self return and Stitch was glad to see his Guardian was recovering, the days they spent traveling were calm and peaceful.

Until they heard the sounds of an army.

Aiden tensed and began to approach the noise at a crouch, his body was ready for a battle but his mind was fearful at the sounds of an army this close to the Varden's base. The Guardian rounded the bend and peaked his head around, seeing a sight that made him frown in worry.

Rows and rows of soldiers dotted a field that expanded for miles. Aiden could see many positions set into the rock walls that looked perfect for ambushes or snipers' nests, and with the sound of quiet banter and small sword fighting bouts, the small noises added up into a dull roar that the Guardian was surprised he hadn't heard earlier.

"This… is an army ready for war." Aiden muttered quietly as he ducked his head back into the cover of the rock wall.

 _"I agree."_ "I agree."

Aiden and Stitch both yelled out in surprise as a feminine voice sounded out from right beside them. The Guardian had to hold himself back from stabbing the person, and Stitch had to stop himself from projecting his voice to the girl who had seemingly appeared in front of them.

"Angela!?" Aiden whispered harshly as he glared at the smirking witch beside him.

"The one and only." She cheekily replied.

"How the hell did you even find me!" The Guardian asked with an angry frown on his face. The implications of him being found by a normal human were rather frightening.

"You left a rather large trail to follow. Did you know the scent of a Shade is very apparent to a toad? They hate the buggers." And to emphasize her point, the woman pulled out a frog, who looked rather uncomfortable being close to the Hunter.

"…Are you fucking crazy?" Aiden asked with a serious face.

"It's very likely." Angela replied with just as serious a face.

"What's going on?" The Guardian changed the topic when it became apparent that the conversation would only bring a headache. He was very pleased to see that Angela got the hint.

"A group of soldiers found a letter from the Mad King himself, he's apparently sending out an army to attack the Varden. The wise and powerful rulers decided to raise their own army." Angela explained as she walked out into the light of the valley where the soldiers were currently camping out. Aiden reluctantly followed her when she turned her gaze back towards him expectantly.

"What are the estimated enemy numbers?" Aiden asked Angela as several soldiers turned towards them in alarm, although those stares of confusion turned into lecherous grins when inappropriate ideas popped into their heads about why the two were alone.

"Couldn't tell you. Even I don't dare try and spy on an army with a Shade leading it." Angela said casually as they walked past dozens of lounging soldiers, each one resting in a casual position.

"How do you know a Shade is leading them?" Aiden tensely asked. He knew It was probably a coincidence, but he could shake the feeling that he knew which Shade was leading the Urgal's. Angela only smirked and lifted the frog again. The Guardian rolled his eyes and continued to follow the strange woman into a path that went into the mountain.

"I assume you know about Shade and Io then?" The Hunter asked curiously as they continued walking through the long expertly made tunnel.

"Know about them? Their the talk of the town! Not only do we get two human Rider's, they also befriended a Shade! I expect the elves will have quite the fit when they hear about what you've done." The herbalist said with a laugh as she glanced back at the smirking Guardian.

"I hope she didn't cause any trouble?" Aiden said somewhat seriously as he imagined all the evil glares his companion would be giving out.

Angela's smile faded somewhat, but the tone stayed the same as she addressed the Hunter. "The Varden were quite upset about her being with Eragon and Brom, but it was only the old man's words the kept the leadership from executing her and imprisoning Murtagh. I imagine without that you would be coming back to a very different group." Angela finished as Aiden noticed they were approaching a large doorway, a very fancy thing covered in gold and other precious metals.

Stitch thought it was a waste of valuable resources, but Aiden was quick to remind his friend of how many shell's he was stockpiling in case he needed to look presentable. That shut the Little Light up quickly.

"Glad that old geezer is finally pulling his weight. You know how long he made me carry around all his junk?" Aiden asked sarcastically as two guards he had just noticed opened the doors at Angela's insistence. The Guardian walked through the door expecting another hallway, what he got was something else.

A massive crowd of milling people were walking around a massive cavern, a mixture of humans and dwarves walking through the stone cave while moving materials and animals this way in that. To Aiden it was an awe-inspiring sight, the Guardian had only seen that number of people gathered for two occasions, and neither one was a celebratory event.

"There… are a lot of people here." Aiden muttered as he continued to watch the crowd moving about in their own patterns. The Guardian completely ignored the surroundings to see all the smiling and laughing faces of the Varden, almost each person was calm even though war was right around the corner.

"Yes, the leader of the Varden and the King of the dwarves decided it would be a good idea to evacuate the civilians before the Urgal's got here. In the event they breach the mountain, no citizens will be hurt." Angela explained as she smiled ruefully at the passing crowds. The moment did not last long before the herbalist grabbed Aiden's armguard and pulled him along into the crowded streets.

 _"By the Traveler… I've never seen so many people gathered around like this."_ Aiden muttered to Stitch as Angela dragged him along towards an unknown destination. The Guardian tried to pay attention to where he was being dragged but every time he bumped into someone and muttered an apology his mind drifted to the Last City.

The Guardian tried to think back to the last time he had been able to walk through a crowd like he was now, no concerned glances, no fearful looks, no one even gave him a second glance. It felt strange that no one looked at him as though he were some all-powerful creature, it felt even stranger that nobody was trying to thank him dying for them.

 _"Is this what being normal feels like?"_ Aiden asked Stitch quietly as his body went on autopilot, just letting Angela guide him.

 _"This? This is just what it's like to be invisible."_ The Ghost replied.

 _"It is very strange."_ Aiden said lowly.

Stitch remained silent after that. Aiden was glad to be rid of conversation at that moment, his mind was trying to process all the sounds and movements around him while his eyes tried to search above the roaming crowds and find an exit should he be attacked.

Stitch rolled his eye at that; his Guardian was far too paranoid sometimes.

Angela seemed to know where they were going even though she could barely see over the crowd. The Guardian would have been impressed at her navigation skills if not for the fact that he did not enjoy being pulled along like a lost puppy.

"Where are we even going!" Aiden said loudly over the dull roar of the people around him. He was glad that Angela seemed to hear him though, for the next moment he felt her mind trying to gain access to his thoughts. The Guardian let her in reluctantly as Stitch and all of their memories became hidden.

 _"Introduce you to the leaders of course. They should be in a war council so be on your best behavior. And do try not to embarrass yourself like you did with me."_ Angela replied smartly as she finally pulled the Guardian into a small tunnel, one that supposedly would lead him to this 'council'.

 _"I hate councils…"_ Aiden muttered as bad memories passed through his head. The Last City and it's council were nothing but sniveling power mongering fools who wanted to keep the Vanguard and all its offsets under their thumb.

The pathetic humans wanted to own the Guardians that saved them from extinction.

"Aiden, are you alright?" Angela asked in legitimate concern as Aiden realized his face was pulled into a deep scowl. The Guardian fixed the look quickly and gave the herbalist a calm smile.

"Yes, sorry. Just some bad memories. How long till we reach them?" The Guardian asked.

Angela did not seem to buy it, but she did let the topic drop which Aiden was eternally grateful for.

"Few more minutes, hopefully they haven't ended their little sessions yet. I'd hate to introduce the grand Rider to the maids." Aiden rolled his eyes at her response. Out of all the people in Alagaësia, she seemed like the one he would get along with the easiest.

Stitch snorted at that, but Aiden was not deterred, especially when they came upon a rather basic door being guarded by a mixture of human and dwarf guards, each one eyeing them suspiciously.

"Herbalist, what are you doing here again?" A rough voice asked, coming from a dwarf closest to the door. Aiden assumed that the witch had multiple encounters with the man if he addressed her so coldly.

"Got a messenger from the fronts, he has news of the Urgal's approach that the council will want to hear." Angela lied expertly as Aiden straightened his pose once the eyes of the guards landed on him.

"That so eh? Fine. Get in and tell them, then leave once they dismiss you eh?" The dwarf asked the Hunter, who nodded seriously before the little man pulled open the door and let him in.

As soon as the door began to open, all the conversation that was occurring stopped. Aiden was slightly surprised to see Brom, Eragon, Saphira, and Murtagh also sitting around a large map showing the layout of the Boer Mountains. Everyone in the room looked shocked to see him there.

"Aiden!?" Eragon exclaimed first, which matched the surprised looks that were sent his way when the young Rider had called his name.

 _"So, they've been informed of me… goody."_ Aiden sarcastically said to Stitch as several of the council members began to perk up at him.

"The one and only. What did I miss?" Aiden asked while spreading his hands out and gesturing at the now abandoned map. Eragon went to answer, but Brom silenced the boy with a look and turned his suspicious gaze unto Aiden.

"So, you are back." Brom said seriously. His tone made Aiden take pause as the rest of the room shared nervous and uncomfortable glances.

"Yea… I was expecting a warmer welcome after everything that happened." The Guardian said plainly as he now noticed the dozens of guards stationed around the room, each one holding a weapon and looking rather menacing.

"Sadly, the time for warm welcomes is over." Brom said, and suddenly Aiden heard to pairs of footsteps approaching from behind him.

"Brom… What's going on?" Eragon asked quietly as the two guards who were behind Aiden grabbed the man's wrists and held them in a vice grip. Aiden seemed just as surprised, and the warm look in his eyes died and became replaced with cold indifference.

"I would also like to know that." The Rider said with a monotone voice, his words sounded just as lifeless as his eyes.

Brom hesitated, but with a pointed look from a dark-skinned man across the table, he explained. "While you were gone, we were updated on the current situation with the Varden. They have alerted me that a man had been spotted targeting prominent Varden members and killing them brutally. Normally this would not concern you, but recently we found something that changed their minds on the matter."

Aiden grew confused at where this was all leading, but it soon became deathly apparent as Brom accepted a bundle of cloth from a soldier and pulled out something that took all the breath away from the Guardian and made him gasp out in pure shock.

In Brom's hand was an impossibility. Something that could not exist and yet was very plainly starring him in the face. Aiden felt Stitch panic as well when they both realized with dread what they were seeing was really happening.

He held a powerful and deadly weapon, a weapon twisted and corrupted until it turned into a tool of Darkness. Aiden clenched his fists as he fought to stay calm.

In the old story tellers' hand, was the broken and disfigured pieces of a Weapon of Sorrow.

 **Authors Notes, with reviews!**

 **This chapter was fun. Angela is just fun.**

 **UpstartBuckle09: Thanks for the compliments my guy! I really try to add in the suspense to my story, I'm hoping to keep it going till the very end. And I'm glad I can make such interesting content for you.**

 **Chase-A: Not tooting my own horn here, but my other chapters do seem to pale in comparison to chapter 13. I think it's because I spent so long trying to figure out where to take it generally. I hope to one day go back and fix all the stupid things about my other chapters.**

 **Guest: Chapter one: Not dead no, certainly in a comatose state but I never plan on leaving it for dead. Just a lot going on in life sadly.**

 **Guest: Chapter two: While I am unsure how a "competent" Guardian would know that a new and powerful language he had LITERALLY never heard of before could enslave him (Something that I have never seen in Destiny as of this moment) I will give you a point that you should never speak eldritch words of power that an old man you just met under a dragon told you to speak.**


	15. Power

A clang resounded as Aiden knocked his Vex leg against the sturdy bars of his cell. The guards stationed around him looked on impassively as they their jobs expertly. The Hunter could not fault the men for doing their job, although a part of him was angered that he was to be detained because of a misunderstanding.

Brom had a Weapon of Sorrow.

Aiden knew it shouldn't be possible. The Hive had no signs of being on the planet, and while the people of Alagaësia were certainly intelligent, not even they could possibly devise of a way to create such a weapon. The Hive were an empire spanning multiple worlds and even they could barely construct such terrifying guns.

But Brom had a Weapon of Sorrow.

Did that mean someone else was here with him? It irked Aiden to no end, but he had to consider the fact that he may not have been the first Guardian to become stuck on Alagaësia, although that did not explain WHY someone would even own such a gun.

A Weapon of Sorrow…

Aiden sighed and laid his head back on the wall dejectedly. Sitting in a cell trying to figure out WHERE the gun had come from would do no good until Stitch could get his scans on it, and even then it wasn't guaranteed that they would be able to understand what they were dealing with.

"Damn it all." Aiden cursed lowly as he clenched his hands tightly for what must have been the hundredth time that day.

He hated being stuck like this. He knew that if he even put a small percentage of his strength that he would be able to escape, to leave and be free, but that came with many problems. He knew exactly what would happen if he tried to escape. Knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would be hunted by the Varden, and then he would be forced to kill anyone who crossed his path.

That left him in the cell, sitting in a corner and hoping that he could find a way out.

The Varden and dwarf leaders were currently discussing ways to deal with the punishment, and it seemed Brom had a small amount of skepticism towards Aiden being the killer, but the Guardian could not ignore the look of betrayal in the old man's eyes when

 _Aiden looked at the broken Sorrow Weapon with a healthy amount of fear. The arms holding him were irrelevant when compared to the situation he now found himself in._

" _We have several eyewitness reports. Someone matching your description was found carrying this... thing, while trying to assassinate our leader." A bald robe covered man spoke up, making Aiden glance at him for a moment before turning towards the weapon in Brom's hand._

" _How did you get that...?" Aiden asked quietly as he somehow tore his gaze away from the guns barrel and looked into Brom's eyes._

" _The attacker dropped it when an arrow hit his arm. He never came back to retrieve it, so we took it and attempted to study it." Brom said hesitantly. The storyteller had never seen Aiden so deathly serious._

 _The Hunters eyes widened even more at that, he almost jerked forward in surprise when the words registered, but the people holding him kept him steady._

" _You need to destroy it. You need to grab it and burn it in a damn fire before you even attempt to 'study' it!" The words came out slow at first, then they turned into a pleading shout._

 _The group seemed surprised that the 'culprit' would want his own weapon destroyed, but to Aiden's horror it seemed like they were not convinced with his pleading._

" _Destroy it? Why would we destroy such a weapon when it could help us win the war?" The bald man said again as he stepped up with another man, who looked to be his twin. "A weapon capable of bypassing the strongest armor, and the ability to shoot faster than any bow? Why would we destroy such a boon to the Varden I wonder… Unless you wish to deprive us of the secrets to how your master made such a thing!" The bald man asked loudly as he pointed at Aiden, who only starred at the man with a slowly building dread._

" _That is not just a weapon you idiot! It's a hungering beast that will DESTROY anyone who touches it, the power inside of that simple 'weapon' has driven men insane and caused an untold number of tragedies! If you try to tame it, try to study it, it will not hesitate to destroy your very soul!" the Guardian shouted out in anger as his mind began to become clouded._

"Aiden, calm down now! You are starting to drift again." _Stitch warned his Guardian, who took a deep breath and tried to calm his raging anger._

" _It is no normal weapon. And I am no normal man… if you try to use that thing, it won't have a chance to destroy you… I will get to you first." Aiden said, watching the looks of shock appear on the assembled peoples faces as his eyes began to glow a bright blue color._

" _Aiden." Brom said seriously, making the Guardian look towards him slowly._

" _What?" The man said darkly._

" _Answer these questions in the Ancient Language to the best of your ability, and you may be able to escape from this without being executed. Do you understand me?" Brom waited for Aiden to nod, and then continued. "Have you ever killed or tried to kill any members of the Varden?"_

 _Aiden was almost tempted to let them try and execute them, but Stitch held him back from spitting at the bald one and taking the Weapon of Sorrow._

" _No, I have never even thought about killing a Varden member." Aiden said in the Ancient Language. The Guardian enjoyed the sight of anger flashing through the twin's eyes, and the relief that came into Brom's_

" _What is this… weapon, exactly?" Brom said as he gestured to the bundle of cloth that he held._

 _Aiden hesitated at that, the Ancient Language was a complex and large compiling of words, but even it could not accurately describe what the Weapon of Sorrow was. He had no way of answering it truthfully because the language just didn't have any words that he knew of that could match._

 _Aiden decided to keep it simple._

" _It is sorrow incarnate. The culmination of Darkness that has been given a form and one simple goal… to rend the soul, flesh, and mind from a body. To tear someone apart at their very core… and consume them." Aiden finished quietly. Brom, Eragon, and several others who understood the language looked at him in surprise, they certainly were not expecting such a claim._

" _Please, Brom… I beg of you, whatever you think of me, whether you view me as a friend or a foe, listen to me when I tell you that thing needs to be destroyed… I have seen what it's kind can do, and even a broken one can destroy everything that you are." Aiden pleaded in the Ancient Language, his words sounding far more pitiful than he had intended._

" _We shall... discuss it. First, we most convene and determine if you are any threat to us. You'll be escorted to a cell and you WILL stay there to await our decision. Please behave Aiden, with everything happening my reputation is the only thing keeping your head attached, understood?" Brom asked the Guardian, whispering the last part to him quietly, although Aiden doubted he intended it to be unheard._

" _Fine…" Aiden said quietly as he was dragged off. His last sight was Eragon looking at him in confusion, and a small bit of hurt._

Aiden's thoughts on what exactly had happened were still uncertain, but the Guardian knew one thing for certain. That weapon _needed_ to be destroyed. No matter the cost.

A similar weapon had almost destroyed him, and he would not let it happen to anyone else.

"Aiden Arcstrider?" A man called out from the outside of Aiden's cell, causing him to perk up a bit to get a better look.

"Yes?" Aiden replied as he saw that the person speaking to him was in fact a dwarf, one who looking rather calm when face to face with a supposed 'assassin'.

"Heard I was supposed to interrogate ya. Can't see why they sent me to do it instead of the nasty Twins, but you won't hear me complain." The dwarf replied as he walked into the cell almost casually, his rough voice belaying the kind gleam in his eyes.

"Not much of an interrogation if I'll just answer your questions, but alright." Aiden joked as the man sat down on the ground in front of the imprisoned Guardian, doing his best to look dignified when he accidentally fell.

"That's what I like to hear! So hard to find good prisoners these days." The man replied as Aiden gave him a grin. The Guardian liked him very much.

"Quite a bit of trouble you found yourself in. Can't imagine how that must feel, to be mixed in with all this… mess." He gestured with his hand slowly, as though trying to come up with the right words.

"You don't think I did it, mister…?" Aiden questioned slowly.

"Orik. And no, the boy Eragon has told me too much about you. You're the type to fight for the betterment of others, assassinating freedom fighters doesn't seem like something you would do, not with how much praise you've been getting." Orik explained as he let himself relax against an adjacent wall.

"You put a lot of faith in the words of others."

"Faith in the heroes who will save us from the Mad King? Of course! No dragon would choose an unworthy Rider, or so I'm told." Orik said seriously, before his face broke out into a grin. Aiden couldn't help but grin as well.

"So, what is that weapon exactly? You seemed rather fearful of it." The dwarf asked the lounging Hunter, noticing his body tense the smallest bit.

Aiden took a deep breath as he convened with Stitch on whether to speak of it. Both decided that the truth needed to be revealed. "Back in my home… we called them Weapons of Sorrow." Aiden started hesitantly, his eyes searching around for something that Orik couldn't guess at. "As the name implies, they are very deadly, very evil, and very bad weapons to use." The Guardian finished quietly.

"Sounds dangerous. Although from how you speak of them, I would guess you've had a personal experience with one?" Orik guessed, not at all surprised when the man tensed up again, although this time it was a little more violently.

"Yes…" Aiden stopped there; it was clear to Orik that he did not like discussing it.

The dwarf wanted to stop the questioning. But the council needed a reason to not use the weapon, and if Aiden had some vital information, they needed to know it too.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Orik asked, although he made it sound as though it was a yes or no question, he could see the Guardian knew exactly what was going on.

"I was in possession of one once… the power you wield in your hand, the ability to destroy all those who wronged you, all those who hurt you and took from you… it nearly destroyed me." Aiden said in a hoarse whisper, but Orik still didn't have enough.

"How did it nearly destroy you?"

"It… they… do things to their wielders. They twist your mind, make you hungry for power, hungry for the ability to get revenge on those who hurt you, it makes that vengeance feel so sweet… and you get addicted to it, the feeling of crushing the life from your enemies. Soon, it doesn't matter who you kill, friend or foe will satisfy that itch that the weapons give you… and by then your far too gone to be saved." Orik noticed near the end that the mans head dropped, becoming covered in the shadows of the room. The dwarf saw a small drip of water land on the man's leg before Aiden stopped talking.

"I am truly sorry that I have to make you speak of this… for now I believe we should stop, there has been enough dark talks for today, ah?" The dwarf grinned, although he knew Aiden would not give one back. The dwarf walked to the door and disappeared around the corner as Aiden finally reached up and wiped away a tear.

Orik walked down the hall for several minutes until he arrived at a hidden door. The dwarf knocked on the slab of stone in a specific sequence and his code was accepted when the door began to lift upwards. Orik walked into the barely lit room and saw some of the most important people of the Varden gathered around a single table.

Orik walked over to the table with several expectant gazes locked on his. Ajihad, Brom, the Twins, Eragon, Saphira, and the dwarven King Hrothgar all looked at Orik with eager expressions, although the twins looked particularly malicious.

Brom was the first to speak out of all the gathered people. "Well… what do you think?" The storyteller asked.

Orik hesitated only a moment before speaking. "I believe him… from your reports the boy has fought Shades and even attacked a military fort without hesitation or second thoughts. For a simple weapon to bring fear to a man like that? I would not want to wield such a beast." Orik said conversationally as he pointedly looked at the bundle of cloth on the table which hid the weapon.

"A foolish notion. I could understand him attacking the base, but fighting toe to toe with not one, but TWO Shades? Not even the best warriors of the elves are capable of such a feat." A twin said, his snide and aggravating voice making Orik wish he had an axe.

"And what of this… 'Shade' that has been traveling with him? She claims that the boy used some strange magic to give her control of herself, to separate the other spirits inside her and to give her the reins." Ajihad asked quietly.

The second twin scoffed, which drew the council's eyes towards him. "What it says is impossible. No Shade has ever been able to do such a thing, once you are consumed by the spirits, there is no 'coming back' or 'gaining control'. You are dead and gone. The man is clearly a spy or some form of assassin." He finished, looking for any who would try to question him.

"Impossible is a word for those who do not bother to examine the full truth." A feminine voice said from behind Brom. Orik jerked his head towards a far corner of the room, where he could see a shape slowly emerging from the shadows of the room.

"All this bickering over something that has already been settled. His innocence cannot be argued when it was spoken in the Ancient Language." The voice said as she finally walked out of the shadows, revealing herself to the rest of the group.

"Arya, kind of you to join us." Hrothgar said kindly as he gestured at a seat next to him, where the elf soon sat down.

"This is not a discussion of his innocence; it is a discussion on what to do with the weapon he has tried to steal away from us." The first twin said, his gaze becoming darker when he glanced at the newly awakened elf.

"Yes… Aiden called it a 'Weapon of Sorrow', He spoke of it as though it is capable of corrupting the minds of its wielders". Orik explained from his end of the table. Brom nodded along before speaking up.

"Aiden is certainly very… eccentric, but I have only ever seen him that serious when he was facing a threat such as the Ra'zac. For him to view that." Brom gestured towards the cloth." As an even bigger worry than them should speak highly on what we are dealing with."

"So much trust put in a boy you barely even know…" the second twin muttered while starring directly at Brom, although his words were certainly meant for everyone to hear.

"That 'boy' has saved my life… That 'boy' has helped carry us all the way to this place from the other side of Alagaësia. And that 'boy' is feeling as though he was betrayed by the only ones he can trust! I assumed that he was guilty. That 'boy' is one of the last chances this world has at stopping Galbatorix, and now I must live knowing that I betrayed his trust when he has only ever tried to help." Brom said heatedly as he glared at the twin.

"We are getting off topic." Arya said calmly, which Orik found impressive seeing as how she was on deaths door all but a week ago, she hid the scars well. "What we should be discussing is what to do with the weapon."

"I say we do as Aiden said." Eragon spoke up for the first time, gaining everyone's attention.

"And why do you think we should, Eragon?" Arya asked as she and the rest of the council starred at him. The boy almost looked uncomfortable before he steeled himself and began to speak.

"I agree with what Orik said… I have seen Aiden stand before a Shade unafraid. A weapon it may be, but if it scares him than I say we destroy it before his warning becomes a reality." Eragon explained to the group, Orik gave the Rider a grin while Brom tried to hide a smile from appearing on his wrinkled face. The Twins let their disdain show openly.

"Wise words. I too agree with Eragon on this, I sense foul and evil magic from the weapon and to keep it near us will only invite bad tidings." Arya spoke up as well, drawing the Twins glares to her as well.

Orik was the next to speak. "You know how I feel about the blasted thing. Let it be destroyed so we never have to think on this topic again." The dwarf said before he noisily took a seat.

Hrothgar and Ajihad looked at each other for a few moments, then both nodded when their minds were made up and the dwarven King stood up and spoke. "Ajihad and I agree with the rest of you. If it can hurt the minds of the wielder, then it shall be destroyed. No weapon is worth the lives of our soldiers." The King finished and took a seat, ignoring the defeated looks of the Twins when they realized they were outnumbered.

"So, does that mean Aiden is to be let go?" Eragon asked hopefully as Saphira gave a small huff in the background.

Hrothgar glanced at the hopeful boy for a moment before giving his response. "Possibly. For now we must determine if he can be trusted among the peo -" The second entrance to the room began to open with a deep groan, causing every head in the room to turn just in time to see a human soldier run into the room covered in sweat.

"Sir! Urgal's scouts, have, been spotted!" The man said between gasps of air as he tried to refill his lungs.

"Where?!" Ajihad and Hrothgar both said at the same time.

"About, ten leagues, from Farthen Dǔr!" He exclaimed as all the gathered members began to stand up.

"How long would it take them to get here?" Ajihad turned his question to Arya, who furrowed her brow in thought.

"I would say a few hours at the most. Their scouts are meant to be fast, and their main force cannot be far off." The elf said quietly as she tried to think.

"It's a good thing we already have our forces stationed then. Thank the Gods they stayed predictable after all these years." Orik muttered darkly from his spot at the table.

Hrothgar was the next to speak, his low rumbling voice flowing through the room with a bark. "Arya, Eragon, I need you both at the front. With your dragon we will have an advantage over all of them, and that means you both will be doing a lot of flying this day. Keep watch over the tunnels that are open." Eragon, Saphira, and Arya nodded to the Kings order as they began to leave the room through the still open doorway the soldier came through.

"Orik, go inform your troops of this development. We will need everyone prepared for the fight to come." Hrothgar commanded sternly, Orik left soon after. Ajihad took over when the dwarven King glanced at him.

"You two know your roles, make sure your groups are assisting all those who need it." Ajihad spoke to the Twins, they nodded and left the room, leaving the two leaders, Brom, and the soldier who soon took his leave.

"Brom, I need you t-"

"I want Aiden to fight as well." The old man said seriously. Interrupting Ajihad from his request.

"Now is not the time for putting trust in strangers Brom! That man could very well be a spy and I will not allow him to succeed in whatever mission he was sent here with!" Hrothgar shouted, his brow furrowing as his face became red.

"He will only help us in this fight old friend. You know as well as I do that anyone capable of fighting off Shades deserves to be on the field. We need him to help us." The old storyteller said, his voice calm and collected when facing the wrath of a dwarf King.

"I agree with him Hrothgar. We need all the help we can get." Ajihad said as he walked up to Brom and stood beside him. The look on the dwarven Kings face made it very apparent how he felt about that.

"Bah! Do with the boy what you will. But if any harm befalls us because of him… I will make you both pay for it." The King said angrily as he grabbed his massive Warhammer and walked out of the room.

"I will go release him now. Thank you Ajihad." Brom said as he turned to the Varden's leader with gratitude in his eyes.

"Do not make me regret this my friend. You are already on thin ice with that Shade being allowed to live." Ajihad said seriously as he starred at the old man with an icy look.

"You only need to have faith. Those boys will save us from this madness, I swear it." Brom said, before he went over to the first entrance Orik came through and flipped a lever. Ajihad glanced at the table where the weapon lay forgotten, when he looked back at the door, he saw Brom's form disappearing beyond a corner. Ajihad sat down for a moment as his hand slowly went towards the weapon, he hesitated for but a moment before he moved the cloth aside and starred at the dark wispy handle.

"So much hope and faith put in two boys… so little time left before everything turns to the dark. I truly wish we could have the faith you do my old friend…" Ajihad muttered as he put the cloth back and walked out of the room quickly, he had a battle to fight. The door shut with a dull moan and a thud.

The cloth that covered the weapon began to flutter and twist as it floated slowly into the air before the cloth fell to the table, its contents now missing.

* * *

Aiden perked up once again when he heard rushed footsteps approaching his cell. And his surprise was raised even more when Brom appeared around the corner and muttered some words in the Ancient language that caused his cell to open with a dull clank.

"Brom, what are you doing?" Aiden asked as he got up slowly and starred at the approaching man.

"A war is coming, the Urgal's are enclosing upon Farthen Dǔr and we need your help." The man said as he walked up to Aiden and lifted a large sack that clinked with the sounds of metal on metal.

"And this is?" Aiden questioned as he took the bag hesitantly and opened it up. The Guardian gave a little laugh as he saw several of his sheathed knives hiding in the bag. "So that's where you put them." The Guardian said as he grinned lowly at Brom.

"Will you help us?" The old storyteller asked hopefully.

Aiden looked at the floor for a few moments, and Brom's hope started to crash after the moments turned to minutes. Before Brom could give up on the idea of earning forgiveness, Aiden looked up and held his hand out for Brom to shake, which he did with a small smile.

"Let's save this city." Aiden said proudly.

* * *

Aiden walked out into the dark moonlight as he surveyed the army around him. He felt himself nod in satisfaction as he saw how prepared the army was, each person was armed and ready, several were taking a small nap before the battle while others whittled their blades or read books or scrolls to pass the time.

"A well-prepared army, do you think?" a woman said from behind Aiden, making him turn around to view her.

A small woman in armor clearly meant for men greeted him, her skin was dark and light, and her hands were soft and clean. It was clear to Aiden that she was no soldier, but he decided to humor the girl.

"Certainly. Although no one can ever be truly prepared for war." Aiden said as he looked out over the field surrounding them, the light of lanterns the only thing allowing the men to see each other and the collapsed tunnel they were guarding. The woman silently approached him, and Aiden just then noticed the bow on her back.

"True words…" She whispered.

"So, you are clearly not a soldier. What brings you here?" Aiden asked her, a small grin coming to her face when she tensed up.

"I-I have no idea what your talking about." She spoke, trying her best to sound dignified. It was clear to Aiden she didn't expect others to notice her appearance.

"Oh, I see, you're not supposed to be here!" Aiden said loudly, although no one was near enough to hear him the girl still tried to shut the Guardian up.

"Fine, fine! I am not a soldier, Rider…" She muttered while glaring at Aiden heatedly.

"Names Aiden, and you are?" The Guardian asked.

"Nasuada, and I would enjoy it immensely if you did not inform anyone that I am here." She 'asked', but Aiden knew it was more of a demand.

"Sure thing. Just don't get in anyone's way and you won't have to be sent with the rest of the civvies." Aiden said humorously. The girl flashed him a look of confusion.

"Civvies?" Nasuada asked.

Aiden blinked a bit before noticing his slip up. "Uhm, civilians, it means civilians." He explained quickly. She looked at him strangely before going back to starring at the army.

"What are you looking for out here, Rider Aiden?" She asked when she finally noticed his gaze drifting across every soldier in the camp.

"My dragon, Io. I wanted to surprise her, but that wont really work if she knows I'm here eh?" Aiden exclaimed as he continued to look around the camp. Nasuada looked thoughtful before she smiled and spoke.

"I heard that she was last with Eragon in the adjacent valley, I'm certain you will be able to find her there if you search quickly." She explained; Aiden flashed her a kind smile before he started to run to the entrance of the dark valley with a shout.

"Thank you!" He shouted out. Nasuada just smiled before going to join the rest of the archers.

Aiden ran as fast as he could towards where Stitch said his fellow Rider was supposed to be. The Guardian was quite excited to finally be seeing Io, and Stitch felt the same way. The man passed several tunnels and vacant rooms where people were supposed to be living, and he was reminded of the Last City when the searches for any remnants of the Red Legion began. Empty, vacant. Lifeless.

Aiden pushed past the feelings of sadness and instead focused on the fact that he was approaching the field where Eragon was supposed to be stationed.

He entered the field just in time to hear a roar of joy coming from a certain purple dragon.

" _AIDEN!"_ Io shouted out mentally as Eragon and Saphira looked at the pair in surprise. Io leaped at Aiden and the Guardian soon found himself cocooned in a massive pair of purple membranous wings. _"YOUR BACK!"_ She purred.

Aiden laughed out fondly as he patted Io's wings softly. "You betcha!" He said.

Io let him go after several moments of holding him, and Aiden gave a small grin as her face beamed at him in happiness.

" _How are you?"_ Io asked the Guardian after several minutes of simply basking in each other's presence. Eragon and Saphira had smiled wryly and moved away to the far side of the cavern.

" _I'm good Io, just realty glad to see you."_ Aiden said with a small smile as he slowly ran his armored hand down his dragons back.

Io smiled down at him, and Aiden felt a sense of euphoria wash over him. His thoughts solidified and suddenly something clicked into place within his mind.

" _This is what I want"_ Aiden whispered to himself lowly.

Io looked at the Guardian strangely. _"What you want?"_ She questioned.

Aiden shook his head, giving off a laugh when he realized how strange that must have sounded.

"Nothing Io. I just realized the answer to a very important question." Aiden said with a real smile on his face. Io only smiled back at him as they relaxed and sat next to each other.

" _This is what I want."_ Aiden said to himself with full conviction. Even if no one heard his words, it felt like he had shouted them to the whole Varden army. _"I want to see you happy."_

" _Traveler help whoever gets in my way."_

* * *

Eragon fidgeted restlessly as Murtagh sat beside him. Both boys were nervous, anxious, and more prominently. Scared.

Neither of them needed to say it. It was obvious in the way they glanced at the tunnels the Urgal's were sure to swarm through, the way they both adjusted their armor and make sure their weapons were still sharp.

Eragon had a sword that could never dull, but weapon care was key.

The only one who did not seem worried in the slightest was Aiden. The Rider seemed entirely relaxed in Io's forelegs, the large dragon was even resting her head on her Rider's lap in contentment.

"How is it possible they can be so calm?" Eragon asked while sharpening the blade of his ruby red sword, Murtagh looked up at the Rider and dragon pair when Eragon spoke and shook his head as well. Eragon could not tell if it was from exasperation or some form of amusement.

"He seems used to the thought of battle, although how a man that young could have experience in war is beyond me." Murtagh said as he lost interest and began to sharpen his sword again. Eragon almost went back to doing the same before a thought occurred to him.

" _How IS he so experienced?"_ The young Rider asked curiously to Saphira, who perked up from her resting place. _"If dragons only hatch for those who are not yet adults, then he cannot be older than eight winters! And yet he has so much knowledge and skill in battle..."_ Saphira blinked her eyes as the realization also occurred to her.

" _Where did he get such skill if there had not been any major battles in his lifetime?"_ Saphira questioned as she glanced at Aiden and Io, both of whom appeared to be fully asleep at that point.

Eragon gave a thoughtful frown as he stopped sharpening his sword altogether. _"Perhaps he has been training for a long time?"_ The young Rider suggested, although Saphira shook her head at that.

" _Training only goes so far when fighting a battle, young one. There is a large distance between fighting a trainer and fighting a warrior who wants you to perish."_ Saphira said wisely to her Rider, whom gained a puzzled look on his face.

Eragon thought over the facts in his mind. When they had met the man, Eragon would not dare call him 'boy', he had seemed almost harmless. His body may have been covered with armor and riddled with hidden knives, but Eragon could not think of a more cheerful or carefree person in his life. After finding a whole town that was massacred by Urgal's, the young Rider saw Aiden in a new light.

A slightly fearful and awe filled light.

Whenever Aiden was forced into a battle, he seemed to _glow_ with this radiant confidence, a power that Eragon was certain did not come from his bond with Io. The man has strength Eragon had never seen before in normal men. The speed of an elf, and if words were to be believed, a strange power that not even Brom had seen before. Maybe he had imagined it, or maybe it had simply been a trick of the light, but Eragon swore he always saw something in Aiden's chest light up whenever he used his strange power.

Saphira snorted next to him, which drove his thoughts back on track.

" _Your jealous."_ She said with thinly veiled amusement.

" _Would you not be jealous of Io if she learned to breath fire before you?"_ Eragon shot back in a not unkind manner, the large blue dragon quickly quieted down after that. _"Besides, jealousy is not what I'm feeling… its admiration if anything."_

Saphira gave a hearty chuckle and nudged her Rider gently. _"Why don't you go ask him to tell you a tale of his adventures? I am certain that you would enjoy hearing of a 'true warriors' skill in battle."_ Saphira said humorously to Eragon, who flushed with a tiny hint of embarrassment. The young Rider took a moment to compose himself before he nodded. Saphira was many things to Eragon, but one of the biggest was a true friend. He knew she only meant to help him, so he begrudgingly sat up and sheathed his sword while walking over towards the slumbering dragon Rider pair.

Halfway there Eragon began to lose his nerve as hesitation and embarrassment started to override his confidence. He was supposed to be a legendary Rider, savior of the people, peacekeeper of the lands Alagaësia.

And yet he was going to be comforted with a story like a simple babe.

Eragon began to turn around as soon as the thought flew through his mind, but by then he had already been noticed by a sleepy-eyed Io.

" _Eragon?"_ She asked quietly as Aiden woke up beneath her head and gave his fellow Rider a small glance. The Hunter grumbled a bit before he got up and started to stretch and groan, Eragon heard the tell-tale pop of the older Rider's bones.

"Something we can help you with Eragon?" Aiden asked as he finished his stretching. The Rider set his hand on Io's head and started to rub between her eyes while he waited for Eragon to respond.

Eragon hesitated for several seconds, so long that Aiden got a confused look on his face. The two Riders were saved from an awkward conversation by Saphira, who came up behind Eragon and pushed her nose into his back in a gesture that clearly meant 'get on with it'.

"Ah, well. I wanted to know if you had any stories to tell?" Eragon asked nervously, he began to rub his head and chuckle lowly when Aiden raised his eyebrow at him. "Ah, forget it. It was a foolish thing to ask anyway." Eragon said quietly as he turned to walk away.

"I have a few to tell, if you would care to listen." Aiden said casually as he walked over towards where Murtagh was busy sharpening his sword. He looked up in surprise when Aiden sat next to him, shortly followed by Io. All three of them then looked at Eragon, who sat there with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.

Saphira brushed against his side, shaking Eragon out of his thoughts when she spoke. _"Come now little one, it is time to hear a story."_ She said sardonically, making Eragon glare at the back of her head as she settled down right next to Io.

"Well, what do you want to hear about?" Aiden asked with a mischievous smile on his face, he seemed to be enjoying the thought of telling a story.

Everyone around him dropped their heads in thought, no one truly knew what they could ask the man to say. Battle stories were surely something they wanted to know, but it could have been a sore subject.

So Eragon kept it simple.

"Who taught you how to fight?" The young Rider asked with a curious gleam in his eyes.

Aiden looked into the sky when the question came out. Eragon began to feel guilty as he noticed the look of sadness in his friends' eyes while he thought on it. Aiden did not seem to stay that way long, because he looked at Eragon with a small grin and started to speak.

"My friend, mentor, and all-around fool Cayde taught me how to fight." Aiden began to speak; his tone was wistful and full of remembrance for days that seemed long past. "Cayde was not your average mentor. He did things crazy; he did things that would make you think 'why am I following this guy?', and he sometimes gave me a headache." Aiden laughed to himself as everyone around him leaned forward in interest. "But that crazy son of a bitch was probably the greatest fighter that had ever graced my path. He knew how to win every fight, he knew the greatest way to take out an enemy, and he knew when it was time to be serious and when it was time to be a total goof ball." Eragon tilted his head at the unfamiliar term, but he was engrossed even if he couldn't understand a word or two.

"One time me and him went on a patrol outside of our… village. This was when I first became a warrior, almost ten, maybe eleven years ago in I have the date correct… He was taking me on a casual training day, the man would use any excuse to get out of his stuffy leader position, and he saw me as something special. Something worth putting his time into…" Aiden trailed off and glanced at the ground, as if thinking on how to say the next few words. "We got targeted by some thieving folks, people who would rather shoot you dead and then loot your body after the threat was gone. Cayde, being the man he was, didn't wear his helmet that day." Aiden started to laugh quietly. "So this bandit decides to go for his head, and instead of hitting him dead center, the arrow goes into his arm!" Aiden said loudly with a jovial grin on his face, although Murtagh and Eragon exchanged confused glances at the way he said arrow.

Aiden took a minute to stop laughing, and after he had his moment he continued.

"So Cayde is stuck there with an arrow in his arm, and I'm just sitting there laughing my butt off, wondering how I could be paired with a guy who couldn't even dodge a shot he saw coming from a couple hundred feet out." Eragon blinked as he exchanged another glance with Murtagh. How could a bowman try to aim for someone's head from a few hundred feet out? "So Cayde just starts charging at them yelling all these crazy words, saying how he would take their feet and make them into a stew, all this crazy stuff that makes no sense whatsoever. And I'm still sitting back wondering how I got into a mess like that." Eragon laughed a bit at that, even Murtagh and Saphira gave low chuckles. It was not a 'true warriors' tale', but Eragon felt it explained his fellow Riders character very well. Aiden seemed content to end it there, and the young Rider was okay with that.

Especially when a messenger came out of the cavern and started to rouse the warriors.

Eragon's face grew grim, and he turned to look at Aiden and saw the same thing. They both knew what this meant.

The Urgal's were here.

"Io, get into the caves and stay safe. Don't come out here to fight, you hear me?" Aiden commanded with an air of seriousness that made even Eragon snap to attention when he heard it. The young Rider could not comprehend how Aiden simply gathered the attention as if he was an old general who had seen many wars.

" _Another mystery, eh Saphira?"_ Eragon chuckled as he strapped Zar'roc to his side and strung his old bow onto his back securely.

" _Indeed, but for now we have a job to do. Let us find out where we are supposed to be stationed."_ Saphira finished her words with an irate huff. Eragon understood the implied meaning well, with the Twins currently directing forces throughout the valley it was going to be a stressful time.

Aside from the war, that is.

* * *

Aiden ran towards a different valley at the orders of the Twins. The two of them had seemed irate beyond all reasoning when they found out Aiden was free, but they simply directed him to another section of cavern that Eragon, Arya, and Saphira were not covering.

Aiden did not know who this 'Arya' was, but the Twins seemed to hate her, so she was alright in his book.

" _You love stirring the pot too much."_ Stitch said in mild amusement.

" _But you have to admit I make the best stew."_ Aiden replied with a grin as he reached his destination just in time to see boiling pitch be poured onto several dozen screaming Urgal's.

The terrible deaths aside, the battle seemed to be going well. That also could be because it had just started, but Aiden was a cup half full kind of man.

The Last Word was discreetly transmatted into his hand, and he charged towards the tunnel with a mischievous grin. Several soldiers saw him coming and grew confused, which quickly turned into fearful as the Rider jumped into the Urgal's tunnel. Several shouts, exclamations of insanity, and general disbelief were given when one of their only hopes flung himself to certain death, at least until they heard several explosions beneath the surface along with screaming.

Under the ground, Aiden was having the time of his life.

The Urgal's were much like the ones he slew in the desert, their minds were set on a specific path and they were hellbent on following it, even if the path was forced into their heads by what could only be the Shade. Now that Aiden knew who was leading the Urgal's, it was all too easy to see how they were being controlled by him, and how flimsy that control was.

Aiden reached out with his mind to a mass of Urgal's, and instead of overwhelming them, he simply broke the compulsion to attack the Varden.

And consequently, their need to fight alongside rival clans.

Several dozen Urgal's were now fighting their enemies with a fever, and Aiden simply had to sit back and gun down any who tried to get through the tunnel. It did not stop them from advancing, a few hundred would not be stopped by a dissenting few, but it did buy the people above him time to prepare and fight back.

Aiden howled with demented laughter that would be suited for some form of evil entity, but when the Guardian was _finally_ allowed to cut loose without fear of losing his mind, he wanted enjoyed every second of it.

The Last Word clicked empty as Aiden tried to fire upon a group of approaching Urgal's. The setback only made him feel more joyous. Gunning down his enemies left little to be desired in thrill, so he decided to even the odds a small smidge.

Aiden had Quickfang transmatted into his left hand, and Worldline Zero into his right. The Urgal's saw this and instantly stopped their charge, weary looks were exchanged between them as they tried to think of how to proceed.

The Guardian did not let them.

Worldline Zero hummed in his hand as he activated the Vex core within. The problem he had always had with engaging enemies with a sword was that he would always risk being shot, maimed, or otherwise disintegrated by his usual Sol enemies when trying to approach them to fight in a melee. The Worldline Zero turned that risk into a null probability.

Aiden disappeared in a flash of Vex particles. The Urgal's had all of one second to wonder where the Guardian went before they found themselves sliced in two. The Arc energy on Worldline got rid of the black blood quickly, and Aiden grinned viciously as he felt the Tesseract that powered his blade resonate with his Light.

More Urgal's rushed towards Aiden, who took but a moment to calm himself before he flared Arc through his right arm and Solar through his left. The two conflicting energies normally did not work well together, but with two catalysts to divert his power into, he did not cause his body to explode as Arc clashed with Solar.

Aiden could not say the same for the army he was slaughtering mercilessly.

Every swipe of his swords caused an enemy to simply stop existing. Quickfang would burn them to a near crisp, and while the Solar Light was still fresh Worldline would slash across the same spot and cause the two powers to explode. The results were clean, easy, and allowed Aiden to kill the beasts without feeling guilty for making it a painful death.

The Hunter lost himself into the rhythm of battle very easily. Guns were an easy way to fight and Aiden truly appreciated all the weapons that had saved his life over the years, but there was something about gliding through his enemies that provided much more fun to the Guardian. Many would call him sadistic for that, but after killing almost a million of the Last City's enemies, he grew numb to the shock of taking a life so casually.

The Urgal's were beginning to thin out, so Aiden picked up the pace.

The army was becoming less army like with every passing second. The forces of the Varden above fled from Aiden's mind as he dodged blows from the hairy creatures attacking him. A spear flew at his unarmored head from somewhere further into the cavern, normally the Guardian would dodge, but he was having too much fun for simple moves.

Quickfang dropped from his hand, Stitch immediately transmatted the weapon to safety, but not before Aiden grabbed the spear that was flying towards his skull. With the weapon now imparting its inertia on the Guardian, he had no choice but to go with the flow. Worldlines Tesseract lit up with Arc power, and the Guardian appeared a few feet behind the enemy forces. Aiden did a quick spin that not only allowed the spear to keep going on its path, but also gave it far more force when the Guardian flung it back into the crowd, although now it could be called a small party of Urgal's.

He did not get to see the results of his throw when two Urgal's threw themselves at him with reckless abandon. Aiden laughed out and used the Worldline to teleport directly behind the two offending creatures. A slice from his newly transmatted Quickfang ended their lives as easily as cutting into butter, but it did set up Aiden for a counterattack on his back.

An Urgal tried to pierce the back of Aiden's armor, hoping to cut right through the back plate and glide through the Guardians heart.

It's sword instantly shattered.

Aiden turned around slowly as the Urgal looked at its broken rusty sword in confusion. When the Guardian had turned all the way around, he simply lifted his sword and the Urgal scampered off with its metaphorical tail between its legs.

"Well that was fun." Aiden remarked calmly as he looked further down the tunnel to see if anyone else was coming. After waiting for several minutes to see if any Urgal's were brave or foolish enough to come back, he left through the hole Eragon had made earlier that day.

Aiden walked out of the tunnel with his head held high. Maybe showing off how much power he had was not a smart thing to do when the Varden were already fearful of him, but he did not care about semantics or politics. His blood was pumping and although the fight was easy, it still made his body fill with adrenaline.

The Varden soldiers who were brave enough to investigate the hole only saw a couple dozen dead Urgal's. the rest had been disintegrated.

" _You know they will want to know how you held off almost two hundred Urgal's on your own._ " Stitch said as he did a light echo scan of the cave. Aside from revealing if there were anymore enemies in the dark underground, it also mapped out a relatively large number of tunnels.

And one that was headed directly into the dwarf's city.

" _That can't be good._ " Aiden muttered as Stitch placed the newly generated map on his Guardians HUD.

Stitch shook his head from the safety of the inventory. _"It is not. I couldn't scan far enough into that tunnel, but I'm willing to bet that is the place they would be putting their main forces behind. It would explain why we only fought a few hundred over here."_ The Ghost muttered, presumably deep in thought.

" _What's the play here bud?"_ Aiden questioned as he put Quickfang on the magnetic holster on his hip. Worldline was nestled on his back, hidden under his Iron Banner cloak

" _Alerting the Twins to this would probably be a bad idea. If that Shade is down there, we would just be sending a lot of people to their deaths."_ Stitch pondered a bit as his Guardian ignored several shocked and uneasy looks from the surrounding soldiers. _"We might have to investigate it ourselves. With the scans I have I could somewhat realistically calculate where they would be, at least within a few hundred feet."_ Stitch explained as he began to do extremely complex math in his head.

Aiden nodded his head minutely. Facing the Shade head on would prevent casualties, make sure no one got in his way, and maybe just help turn the tide of the battle.

The fact that Aiden's subconscious was still raging out against the demonic creature escaping also helped his decision.

" _Let's go Shade hunting then, eh?"_

* * *

Durza smiled to himself even as he sat surrounded by a few thousand dirty, filthy animals. The Urgal's were not the worst things he had been forced to deal with, but their lack of proper hygiene hurt his overly sensitive nose. The Shade smiled in grim anticipation. Then again, he would sit surrounded by millions of Urgal's if it gave him one shot to fight the Rider again.

When the Rider boy managed to not only keep up, but outpace him? He had not felt that thrill in years. A thrill any experienced fighter knew too well.

The thrill of finding a challenge.

Durza had seen the same look on the boy's face after fighting him. The look of hunger, primal and instinctual, something that went beyond sexual or sustenance. This was the hunger for someone to fight who would not topple in one strike. Someone who could be your equal or better in combat.

The Rider had sadly proved to be his better. But Durza's grin grew darker as he flexed his hand. A small orb of dark energies floated there, swirling and suspended in orbit of his hand.

The man, Guardian as Durza now knew him to be called, would not stand a chance against the power he had so callously rejected in his master's domain.

" _I will make sure of that."_ Durza thought as he lifted his hand and continued digging towards the center of the Varden's home.

* * *

Aiden dodged and weaved between exhausted messengers. Each one no doubt ferrying important orders to their respective generals. The Guardian did not have the time to stop and question them on the nature of their orders, Stitch had found something far more worrying than the Urgal's at their front.

Through some convoluted means that the Hunter could not care to understand, his Ghost had not only mapped out where the tunnel would most likely be, he had also detected seismic readings that were consistent with a tunnel being dug.

Aiden rushed to the place Angela had dragged him through on his first visit to the dwarven home. The massive cave that held a beautiful rose shaped ruby gemstone. The Guardian had not had the frame of mind to notice the cavern, but Stitch had recorded almost every detail of the place through the external cameras on Aiden's armor.

The Guardian burst through the final door to the massive hall, but he found no cave in, no Urgal's, and nothing out of the ordinary at all.

All he saw was Io, sitting around looking like she was having an existential crisis.

"Io! What are you doing here?" Aiden yelled out, causing his dragon to jump up in surprise, almost like a cat. "It's not safe here! You need to get out of here!" The Guardian continued to yell as he ran, closing the distance between the two of them.

Io looked as though she wanted to explain herself, but before she could her head tilted to the side, and a look of confusion flashed across her face as she seemed to try and hear something.

A massive explosion blossomed from the space between the two.

Aiden was flung backwards with the force of the explosion. Muted sounds were the only thing the Guardian could hear before Stitch healed his broken eardrums. Aiden shakily got up as Stitch dutifully made sure to transmatt any shrapnel out of his Guardians body before he healed it.

Aiden looked around and saw that aside from a few scratches, Io's armored scales had taken the worst of the blast, but he could not do a more thorough checkup. The Hunter heard the sounds of clashing weapons, bodies, and bellows of rage coming from the explosion site.

That was all the warning the Guardian got before all hell broke loose.

Urgal's came streaming out of the hole, dozens and dozens at a time, so many the Aiden lost count at around two hundred fifty-seven.

"Stitch, Bad Juju!" Aiden yelled out quickly. His shout caused most of the Urgal's to look at him in hunger, and then they charged. The Guardian took a moment to send the information to the Twins, this was too large of a breach to not be warned about, and then completely blocked them out once he confirmed they got it.

The pulse rifle appeared in Aiden's hand while Worldline Zero was put in the inventory, and he felt the connection he had with Io grow. The Guardian nodded to himself, before he called out once more. "Raiden Flux, Shinobu's Vow!"

The powerful armor pieces appeared on his body; their overwhelming energy would normally floor any Guardian who tried to wear two Exotics. They caused too much Light to flow through the wearers body, which could kill if done too much. But Aiden had Io. And that was more than enough to even the odds.

Aiden roared out into the sky above him. His normally calm and composed mind decided that taking the backseat was for the best in the face of all the power roaring through his body. Arc energy flashed and sparked from his body, and the ground surrounding him was glowing with a light blue color. The Urgal's might have sensed something was wrong if they took a moment to think, but they did not.

And it cost them.

Aiden simply disappeared. There was no Worldline Zero to assist him, no Vex tricks, nothing aside from his pure overwhelming speed which caused him to become invisible to the naked eye. It also let him slash through the first row of Urgal's as though they did not even exist.

Aiden yelled out as he flashed between rows and rows of his enemies, leaving behind blue flashes of Light and the small particles of his disintegrated enemies. Had he done the same thing a week ago, his Light would have imploded, and his soul would be lost to the Void.

But a week gave him plenty of time, his Light was recovered only halfway, but that was more than enough to eliminate a few hundred foes. His fists and the occasional shot from the Bad Juju were more than enough to kill them all.

The Hunter checked on Io occasionally. With most of the Urgal's swinging around while trying to hit the 'Blue Blur' they could not devote time to the vicious dragon who was currently ripping into them while avoiding the deadly weapons.

Aiden smiled in savage glee, and began his slaughter once more.

Until a small ball of pure Darkness smashed into his chest.

The Guardian yelled out in mild annoyance as the small orb seemed to drill away at his armor. The swirling energy inside seemed to be literally eating away at his body, and without his armor it certainly would have cut all the way into his internal organs by then. Instead all it did was explode in Aiden's face, and blow him a few dozen feet away from the Urgal war party.

The massive dust cloud generated by the orb of Darkness was thick, almost supernaturally suffocating as Aiden coughed and tried to get the dust from his lungs. One thing that became increasingly apparent was the fact that his enemy was no normal person, to be able to throw around an orb of such power and accuracy could not be done by any mortal.

The Hunters thoughts were confirmed when the Shade he had fought in Gil'ead walked calmly through the mist with another orb of Darkness.

" _Stitch, scan that bastard and find out how he's doing that."_ Aiden commanded with a no-nonsense tone. Now was not the time for games.

"Well if it isn't my old friend Aiden!" The Shade said smugly as he noticed the shredded chest plate the Hunter had on. "Quite a vicious hit you took… I would be careful where you step." The creature said snidely.

Aiden grew suspicious. The Shades mannerisms and speaking was different from before, something did not feel right to the Guardian.

"Aye, never know when the emo will come back from the dead." Aiden said in as casual a voice as he could make. The Shades grin faded, only to be replaced with a cold smile that seemed to drop the temperature in his immediate surroundings.

"Such a man of many words. Sadly, I fear that words cannot accurately describe how… precarious of a situation you are in." The man said, just as the fog surrounding them disappeared.

" _By the Traveler…"_ Stitch responded first, because Aiden was too busy staring in shock to speak.

They were surrounded. That was to be expected after the grand entrance the Urgal's had made, but it was not being surrounded, or the Urgal's that filled his heart with dread.

It was the Dark energy flowing through every creature in the cave.

The pure _power_ they were radiating put anything the Shade could do before to shame. Their bodies, minds, even souls were filled to the brim with the evil energy. Aiden took a step back involuntarily as unease flowed through his soul. Something like this was impossible.

"Like them, hmm? I will admit I was averse to the idea of entrusting my pawns with such power, but the one who sent me to take your head was very persuasive." The Shade said as he walked around the army surround the Hunter, his black orb still floating above his head, swirling with Darkness.

"I have felt the power you, Guardians, correct?" The Shade took Aiden's shocked look as answer enough. "Yes, Guardians… I have felt the power you fear, this Darkness to your Light, the antithesis of your Traveler and everything your humanity had built… it is intoxicating, knowing I was created from something that has destroyed countless civilizations, I must say. Even if it is, slightly different." He stopped talking then. Aiden was grateful.

The thing knew… he _knew_. About Aiden, the Traveler, The Darkness and Light.

"How do you know that?" Aiden whispered as the hundreds of Dark enhanced Urgal's fled from his mind. After several seconds of no response the Hunter grew angry. "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!?" He shouted, violently.

The Shade only smiled, and snapped his finger.

Aiden was confused, for the split second that he could feel anything at all aside from agony.

A titanic presence, one hundred times the size of anything Oryx had ever sent against him, crashed into his mental barriers. Aiden fell to his knees and began to grunt out in exertion as he tried to block out whatever it was that was destroying his walls like a child in a block city.

"I must say… this power is simply more than I could ever have achieved on my own… I can see why you keep the dragon around now." The Shade mumbled as he drifted closer to the incapacitated Guardian, who could barely comprehend the fact that the Shade was talking, much less what he was saying.

"Graaahh…" Aiden grunted in agony. His brain felt like it was on fire, and he could feel something inside of him being contorted, shifted and changed all at once. Almost like his very body was being ripped apart and stitched back together in the wrong order.

"Very painful isn't it? I would truthfully not want to fight such a mental presence either." The Shade was talking once again, not to be heard, but to gloat to himself. "All of this for but a drop of my master's power… a single drop! With this I could be a God of the highest order! No longer would I fear death, no longer would that damned King keep me under his thumb!" He yelled in some terrible form of ecstasy, although only the near mindless Urgal's heard him. He collected himself soon after.

"I am sad to say, but now is the time for your final death my friend. Until such a time as my master has need for you body, you will be gone… dead and buried." The Shade finished his speech, and while Aiden caught the tail end of it, he knew nothing could be done in his agony as he looked up with bleary eyes and saw the mans wicked knife slowly approach his throat.

Aiden could do nothing as cold steel cut a bloody smile on his throat. Aiden could do nothing as his lifeblood fell down his chest and to the ground. Aiden could do nothing as black surrounded his vision, and his eyes closed to the world.

The Shade grinned out, and with but a pulse of his mind sent the enhanced Urgal's out to slaughter what little resistance the Varden could put up.

Aiden's body laid broken on the floor, completely forgotten as several dozen Urgal's stomped on him in disgust. Only one pair of eyes starred at his body with remorse, a glowing set of amethyst eyes.

* * *

Aiden felt… he did not know what he felt.

He was in the Void, the place of death. Where he visited before Stitch's calm Light flowed over him and brought him back from the dark.

Aiden felt no Light, not from Stitch, and not from himself.

Terror. He felt terror as Darkness once more surrounded his soul. He knew he could not hold it off. Another part of him felt that holding it off was too much, that he had already fought his battle. Death called to him, and its melody felt more calming than it ever had before.

Another part, the quietest of his soul, felt giving up would betray everything that had been sacrificed to make it to this point. Everyone who had died to see him through, only to give up.

He felt tired… oh so tired of everything that he had fought for, and against. The Darkness surrounding him was whispering its sweet nothings to him and the temptation was something he felt compelled to listen to.

 _Surender To Us_

 _No More Fighting_

 _Eternal Slumber_

 _Give Up_

 _Surrender_

 _No More Fighting_

 _Peace In Death_

 _Nothing Left To Fight For_

 _Give Up_

 _Why Struggle_

 _Peace Is Near_

 _Embrace Us_

 _The Dark In Light_

 _Embrace The Dark_

 _EMBRACE THE DARK_

 _ **EMBRACE THE DARK**_

 _ **EMBRACE THE DARKNESS!**_

 _DO NOT GIVE UP AIDEN!_

Aiden did not even realize that he had tried to block the noise of the Dark until he had heard the voice, a person calling to him from the Dark. Something inside him wished to hear that calm and sweet voice once more.

 _You Have Too Much Left To Fight For!_

 _Do Not Give Up, For We Never Gave Up On You_

They… Aiden knew them, he knew that he did, so why could he not remember them?

 _I Love You Aiden…Even In The Dark You Can Find Your Light_

"Even in the dark… I can find my light." Aiden felt the words, resonating in his soul, his mind, maybe even his body if he had one in the Dark.

They were all the words he needed, because suddenly his thoughts cleared, the shifting fragments of himself came together into one large flame, its white light flowing out like a furnace. Aiden found his hand, it was cold and covered with shadows, but it was his.

Aiden reached out to his soul, and reignited the power within.

* * *

Durza felt content with himself.

A God-Slayer dead by his hands, the Varden army soon to be decimated, and the two dragons would soon be his, and then his master would finally have the power necessary to dominate everything.

He felt so content, that he did not notice the blinding light behind him until he heard his Urgal soldiers shout out in agony.

Durza turned around sharply, expecting to see the Rider Eragon challenging him, maybe even coming for revenge for the death of his fellow Rider.

He found Aiden.

The Guardian was floating. Held aloft in a wave of purple-blue power. The energy he was generating was enough to make Durza step back in a form of primal fear, although his conscious mind rejected the mere idea of being scared.

"You… **ARE TRYING MY PATIENCE!** " The Shade bellowed out as a wave of black energy started to surround him. Aiden only starred at the Shade with a dull look.

"I… feel your rage… your agony." Aiden muttered out as he started to look around the room. His gaze turned towards the giant ruby rose in the ceiling, before he moved his strange look on the Shade Durza. The Shade himself seemed flabbergasted that his opponent had not yet made a move.

"This is not my Light…" Aiden whispered to himself quietly. The Guardian seemed to be extremely confused, and Durza took advantage of that.

With the sound of the sound barrier breaking, Durza swung his Darkness covered fist at Aiden's head. The Guardian did not even move, did not even seem to notice that his death was fast approaching.

The Shade was truly dumbfounded when his fist did not even come close to the man's head. It was simply stopped when the power surrounding the Guardian solidified and pushed back against Durza with the force of a charging Urgal Kull.

Durza flew across the room no worse for wear, nothing was hurt except for his pride. Aiden only stood there floating, oblivious to everything around him.

"I am sorry, I am having trouble focusing… could you tell me what you are doing here?" The Guardian finally turned towards the raging Shade, although he did not stare at him as if he were a threat. Aiden only looked at him as if he were a lost human in a new city.

" **DO NOT MOCK ME BOY!"** Durza flew across the room, leaving a crater in his wake and a massive boom as his body broke through the sound barrier once again. Normally the speed would have torn his body to pieces, but the power flowing through him protected him from the worst of it.

It did not save him from the hand that surrounded his throat.

"We've met before… You tried to kill me; I did the same to you." Aiden whispered as his grey eyes pierced straight through the Shades crimson ones.

"There are a lot of voices… whispering into my mind Durza…" The Shade grew even more angry at that. "I cannot collect my thoughts… I am having trouble remembering who I am." The Guardian let his grip on the Shade falter, and he gained a pondering expression.

"This power is strange… it feels as though I am connected to everything… as though I AM everything!" This time Aiden's voice grew excited, as though he found a particularly interesting new toy.

"You are nothing, so just die!" Durza's rage grew, along with his fear. The supernatural man nevertheless lifted his hand and summoned a small sliver of his master's power, the energy coalesced into a swirling ball of darkness that he then pushed into the Guardians cloak of purple-blue energy.

The ball started to grind away at Aiden's energy cloak, the power was being drilled into and displaced and Durza grinned as the ball inched closer and closer to the Guardians heart.

Aiden's hand reached forward as fast as lightning, and grabbed the swirling ball with his bare hand and absorbed it into his arm. Durza gasped in amazement as he felt his master's essence be drained from him. He felt as the power of _Gods_ was taken from him.

Aiden held the small miniscule drop of power inside of himself. The Guardian summoned the small drop of energy and starred at it for a few moments. Aiden then summoned Arc energy to his hand in a display that imitated Durza's shadow ball down the last detail.

"This… cannot be allowed to leave this place…" Aiden whispered, and then he slammed the ball of Arc into the drop of Darkness.

The two conflicting forces fought and battled against each other. The Darkness held out a surprisingly long time against the relentless onslaught, but even the compressed power of Durza's master could not withstand the force of the energy supplying Aiden with his own power.

The Darkness bid one final burst of power, before it exploded and showered the cave with a dark smoke that tried to taint the air. Aiden flicked his free hand idly, and the air cleared of Darkness.

Durza sank to his knees, his mouth hung agape.

Aiden breathed in deeply from the cleansed air. His mind was still cloudy with the thoughts and whispers, but he was beginning to remember who he was. And who was kneeling before him. The Guardian cut the flow of energy that was suspending him in the air. His legs hit the ground with a small thud and the clank of metal on stone.

"Durza, I am sorry you were forced to be corrupted like this, turned into a simple beast." Aiden laid his hand on the Shades shoulder, the power he was radiating flowed across the shocked creature. "To be stuck in such a painful existence… I will ease your suffering." Aiden whispered softly as he grabbed a knife from its sheath.

Durza began to panic and struggle against the hand on his shoulder. the ironclad grasp did not lessen or falter from the Shade's strength and the knife drifted ever closer.

"Get that thing away from me! I will not die! I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THIS!" The man shouted out in terror as the knife kept coming closer. Aiden did not blink at the pleads, he had heard it all before.

Durza looked frantically around the room for some form of escape. His hands beat uselessly at the energy cloak that covered the Guardians hand. The Shade saw no way to escape his Fate, and he went limp as it became only clearer.

He was going to die.

He did die. As a knife flashed through his heart. The Shade began to scream in pain, his agony apparent to all the world. Aiden watched passively as the supernatural mans body began to bubble and shift with dark spirits, it was only mildly surprising to Aiden when Durza began to howl with laughter.

" **I will be back, you fool! I WILL BE BACK!"** The insane Shade laughed, before his body exploded into a cloud of darkness that quickly disappeared from Aiden's senses.

Aiden stood for a moment, the power radiating from him was there for a few moments more before it left the Guardian. He fell to his knees as exhaustion hit him fully, his body was thoroughly taxed.

"Stitch, find Io." Aiden said breathlessly, even though he had not done anything strenuous.

" _I got her. She's left like you told her to if there was danger. Looks like she currently… oh no."_ Stitch cut off sharply. Aiden had but a moment to wonder why. _"Dark enhanced Urgal's are chasing her! We must have missed a few. Sending coordinates to your HUD!"_ The Ghost shouted out worriedly.

Aiden got to his feet and shoved aside his fatigue, his body was meant to handle strenuous activity and the Guardian was going to put it through its paces. He flew forward at a breakneck pace. Flying through the halls while his feet blasted into the rocky corridors, Stitch guiding him all the way through the tunnels as the Ghost laid a map over the HUD.

" _Lot's of movement in those tunnels. I informed Eragon about what's going on, Saphira and Arya are going to be coming with him to help but they won't get there fast enough."_ Stitch said quickly. Normall revealing himself to someone would have been a bad idea, but the Ghost knew now was not the time for secrets. Now was the time for haste.

"She's running to a dead end!" Aiden yelled out as he shoved past a trembling messenger. The Guardian did not care if he hurt the poor boy, Io was his only concern. Arc Light was flowing off his body with how much energy he was channeling, he was somehow almost out of usable Light after fighting Durza.

Which meant he was not fast enough.

Aiden flew into the unfinished cave that Io was being surrounded in. He did not take notice when he cut right through an old stone door, his eyes were locked on a sight that filled him with dread.

Io was surrounded. Her amethyst eyes were wide with panic, and her once glimmering body was covered in the scratches of the savage spears and swords of the Urgal's. Aiden's eyes took everything in, and he started sprinting towards his dragon urgently. Many of the beasts who had been charging the dragon turned to Aiden with dark and savage looks. Darkness flowed from their bodies and weapons, and several of the cuts Io had were covered with the same energy.

"IO!" Aiden shouted out as he cut down any foe that came between him and Io. The seconds it was going to take to get to her were an eternity for the Guardian, especially when he saw the Urgal's were starting to overwhelm Io. A massive Kull snuck up from behind the large dragon. "LOOK OUT!" The Guardian yelled once more.

Io was frantic as she tried to turn around and nip at an Urgal who was trying to stab her in the underbelly with a spear, so she missed the massive presence of the Kull who lifted an equally massive Warhammer over his head. Aiden and Stitch both agreed that caution was to be thrown to the wind. Arc energy blasted from the Guardian as his speed increased exponentially, but by then it was far too late.

The Kull roared a deep, guttural war cry as he flung his hammer at Io with all his strength. The beast hit her in the chest, which staggered her long enough for another Urgal to stab his sword into Io's weakly armored underbelly. Several others took this chance and began to stab and slash at the downed dragon.

" **NO!"** Aiden screamed in anguish. His body began to move on autopilot, his eyes began to fill with tears, and his Light flew outwards as he reached Io slammed his fist into the ground next to her. every single Urgal around her turned into Arc particles, every single Urgal died for what they did. But it was not enough.

Io laid on her side, her lungs filling with blood and her breathing haggard. Aiden made sure he had killed every Urgal before he ran to her side and ripped the sword out of Io's chest as gently as he could. The wound started to bleed profusely, and the dark power the Urgal's had used was infesting the wound.

"What did it hit!?" Aiden asked as he started to mutter the word for healing. The Guardian was dismayed when the hole in Io's chest barely healed.

"Her lungs, it missed her heart, but if we don't fix those holes it won't matter! She's losing too much blood Aiden!"Stitch said frantically as he appeared before Aiden and started to scan Io. The dragon was trying her best to be brave, but Aiden could clearly see the fear in her eyes as she starred at him.

"It's gonna be okay Io, it's gonna be okay!" Aiden said quietly, before he started speaking in the Ancient Language. "Heill! Heill!" Aiden said fiercely as he poured as much energy as he could into the words. For some reason the wound refused to heal, and the Guardian began to feel panic set in.

" _A-aiden… I feel cold."_ Io stuttered out quietly, her amethyst eyes were filled with tears and pain. _"It hurts so much…"_

"It's gonna be okay Io…" Aiden said as he glanced at her scared eyes one last time before trying to fix her.

"Aiden, she's going into shock!" Stitch shouted out, the words fell on deaf ears as Aiden kept yelling the word for healing over and over again. Io's eyes rolled backwards, and she fell unconscious. Stitch monitored her body as Aiden kept muttering the word as though it were a lifeline.

"Please, not again… not again." Aiden said hopelessly as the hole in her chest healed at an increasingly slow rate. "Why isn't this working!?" the Guardian snarled out. Stitch grew unnervingly silent and everything seemed freeze all around them.

"Heill!" Aiden shouted as the wound seemed to stop stitching over all together.

"Aiden…" Stitch said quietly.

"Heill!" The Guardian shouted again, desperation tinting his voice.

"Aiden…" Stitch tried again.

"Heill!" Tears began to fall freely from his eyes.

"Aiden." The Ghost's tone grew angrier, firmer.

"HEILL!" Aiden screamed out in agony, it was no longer a command, but a pleading cry.

"AIDEN!" Stitch shouted out. His anger radiating from his shell.

"WHAT!?" Aiden shouted back, turning his eyes towards the Ghost hatefully. Until he saw the look.

"…She's gone…" Stitch whispered; his anger disappeared at the same time that a look of devastation flashed across his Guardian's face.

"No…" The man said hoarsely as he turned to look at the still form of Io. His hands hesitated a moment, before he started to stroke her face.

"Please… Io, not like this, Traveler damnit, not like this!" Aiden croaked out. Stitch began to hear voices approaching them, so he reluctantly hid himself as cries of shock came from behind his Guardian.

"You… you were." The man choked on his words, but he needed to speak. "You were supposed to fly with me…" Aiden finally got out, all the words in the world he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't hope to form them before this.

"I can't lose you again… don't leave us… Io!" Aiden started to shake Io's body, his pushes and shoves only served to deepen the pain he was feeling. Stitch stayed silent as grief washed over him like a wave over a beach. Aiden stopped shaking her, and his head fell as tears began to wash down his armor.

Aiden stayed there for what felt like an eternity, unmoving and uncaring as he simply sat and starred at Io. He knew what happened now. He could already feel his sanity declining, his willpower leaving him, and his emotions being overrun with agony of the cruelest sort.

Distinctly, Aiden realized that he was going Insane. But he did not care.

He had seen this before, held her in his broken hands as tears fell from his eyes. What felt like thousands of years ago but was truthfully only half a decade at the most. Her bones, broken. Her body, dust. Her mind, destroyed.

All because he wasn't strong enough. All because he wasn't fast enough. All because the world could not leave him alone.

All because, even in the end. Everyone died around him.

Something within Aiden simply snapped. A strand that kept him from giving up, a small thread of hope inside his soul that kept him from the edge, that kept him from experiencing the cruel Darkness that would be his final death. Stitch, Io, it did not matter. Either one would have caused the same thing. So many had died because of him, so many had given their lives for him because they saw something Aiden would have given up in a heartbeat if it meant they could stay alive. How many had to die before the world finally took the right person? Aiden did not know, but the defeated and broken Guardian knew one thing.

Aiden, slayer of God's, first of the new Iron lords, Savior of the Last City and so many other titles, had finally given up.

* * *

" **Something is happening. The blocker is falling, it is being turned off by the dragon!**

" **Impossible. No creature of mortal origin can manipulate blockers, not even them."**

" **I am seeing an impossibility then. We cannot allow this to happen!"**

" **Checking… checking… impossible"**

" **Damn you! He has already shown himself capable of using the Power, why did you tempt it to influence him?"**

" **My decision was logical at the time. I could not have known it was strong enough to bypass the blocker."**

" **You and your logic might very well have given it the strongest person in its entire universe!"**

"… **We have no choice but to wait and see."**

" **Wait for him to go on a rampage. To destroy all that our people have built."**

 **"We must wait…"**

 **"…"**

* * *

 **A tragic death**

Aiden jerked up as the words hit him. For a crazed moment he thought they belonged to Io's.

" _You…"_ Aiden whispered into the void. Stitch did not seem to have heard the voice. The Guardian believed he was slipping into insanity, so he almost thought he hallucinated it. Almost

 **Me indeed, former Rider**

The voice, its words were taunting, as though talking to an insect or a particularly stupid human.

" _What… do you want?"_ The tone came out far meeker than Aiden intended.

 **Why, to help of course. I oh so hate to see one of my kin die**

Aiden's breath hitched, and suddenly several pieces of a grand puzzle fell into place. His mind barely comprehended the situation.

" _You… you are an Ahamkara."_

 **You finally see the truth**

It's voice, Aiden felt enraged at how belittling she sounded, but he kept his mouth shut on the matter.

" _Can you heal her?"_

 **I could heal every single creature in this retched valley, with but a drop of my power she would be alive**

" _Then do it!"_ Aiden demanded, but it also came out as a plead.

 **I do not give my power so easily, Guardian. First, I require a deal**

Aiden remained silent.

 **You simply give yourself over to me. Let me take your body to do my bidding, and she will live on**

Aiden narrowed his eyes. His thoughts whirled and his mind began to haze over.

" _Swear to me… in the Ancient Language that you will bring her back, that no harm shall come to those I care for…"_ Aiden whispered out silently, his mind and soul were screaming at him to stay silent, but one look at the crumbled and blood covered form of his friend quieted those voices.

 **Should you surrender to me, I will bring back your dragon and no harm shall come to any of those creatures you care about.**

The Hunter nodded his head slowly as he repeated the words in his head silently. He felt the truth in them, so with little hesitation, he accepted the deal.

Aiden screamed in agony as something stabbed into his chest, close to his beating heart.

"Remember me, boy?" A snide voice whispered into Aiden's ear. The Guardian looked back briefly and saw the blood red eyes of the Shade that had escaped him at Gil'ead.

"What… what is this?" Aiden whispered as he starred down at the dagger imbedded near his thrumming heart. Instead of blood leaking out, his armor seemed to melt away to be replaced by a shifting scar made of shadows. The 'tattoo' was spreading over Aiden's entire body, coursing through him as it seemed to burn his body while also filling it with cold Darkness.

The Guardian realized what was happening a second before Stitch said it.

" _He's injecting your body with Darkness!"_ Stitch screamed out into Aiden's head, hoping to get some form of reaction or retaliation from his Guardian. Aiden only sat still and screamed as another voice echoed not from his mind, but from his _soul_.

 **Let it happen, this is my will. The deal has been struck, and you are** _ **MINE**_

" _That's how she bypassed my barriers… no need to knock when your already inside the house…"_ Aiden thought to himself a few moments before the Darkness took hold and he passed out.

* * *

Stitch watched in horror as Aiden's body became covered in the inky blackness of the mark. It spread over him and Stitch could do nothing but scream in frustration as his Guardian was slowly consumed. The Shade stood over Aiden's convulsing body with a smugness that almost made Stitch transmatt outside of the inventory and ram his shell into the evil creature's eye.

Almost.

Instead, Stitch did something he had been doing for a long time. He scanned Aiden's body, and his horror grew to untold heights.

Aiden was being corrupted, destroyed and filled with Darkness from both body and soul. Whatever the Shade had done was destroy Aiden's body in the most perverse manner, some black magic was feasting on his Light and replacing it with evil incarnate.

And Stitch could do nothing but watch as his Guardian's soul was consumed before him.

* * *

Eragon, Arya, and Saphira looked on in sadness, terror, and pure anger at the scene before them.

Aiden, his body being consumed by a dark magic, kneeling over the clearly dead body of Io as he screamed out in agony. Whether or not it was from losing his partner of heart and soul or because he was in extreme pain was something the trio could not be bothered to comprehend.

" _No…"_ Saphira whispered as tears began to fall from her eyes. Eragon almost retched when the full realization of what had just happened hit him.

Io was dead, and the Shade who Eragon had learned was named Durza was going to kill Aiden.

"How… how could this happen?" Arya said from behind Eragon, her eyes entirely transfixed on the limp body of Io. The elf completely ignored the Shade, and Aiden to stare at the chest wound Io had suffered. Eragon turned to look at her with a snarl on his face and anger in his soul, but he stopped.

Arya looked shell shocked, her eyes were unfocused, her breath came in labored gasps, and she appeared as though she herself were a Shade with how pale her face had become. She was unmoving and unaware of anything going on around her.

Eragon looked back towards Durza when he realized she would be no help. His spirit raged against the cruelty of what was happening, his mind filled with anger the likes of which he had never felt before, and his body felt as though it might explode with how many powerful emotions were flowing through him.

Aiden had been the strongest person he knew. Aiden had fought armies, defeated two Shades and befriended one. Aiden had found an egg left behind from the age of the Riders and became a legendary symbol of freedom. Aiden, who had shown nothing but kindness, warmth, and so many other things to Eragon, was kneeling on the ground.

Aiden, the indomitable spirit that he showed was now gone. Lost within the agony he was experiencing from being stabbed, and losing the most important person in his life.

The monster had the gal to look at Eragon and flash an evil smile.

Eragon cried out in rage and sadness as he blasted forward at the former man, the blade Zar'roc was glowing with magic and power that the Rider was certain he had not called upon, but he ignored everything but the smirking face that turned towards him.

Eragon, the young sixteen-year-old boy who had barely been a warrior for six months. Eragon, the boy who was destined to change Alagaësia's Fate. Eragon, a warrior who could not possibly hope to defeat a Shade that even Aiden struggled with. His anger was untold, and now that he had a target, Eragon knew one thing without a shadow of a doubt.

Durza would not lay another retched finger on an innocent person ever again. Eragon wished beyond belief that he could be the one to do it. His very soul cried out with the need to kill the monster.

Zar'roc slashed through the air faster than Eragon had ever swung it before. Durza looked momentarily surprised before his own cracked blade flashed into the path of the Riders sword, causing a clang of metal to ring out across the clearing.

Eragon snarled when he felt Durza start to push his sword back, but the young Rider would not be deterred. Eragon gathered power from his body, and shouted his will into the world.

"STENR RIESA!" Eragon shouted out as the Ancient Language followed his bidding, making several dozen rocks and heavy boulders float into the air as his magic drained out of his body. His gedwëy ignasia was glowing a dark black color, but he did not care.

Durza looked momentarily confused by the floating stones, but he paid them no further heed when Eragon did not make a move to use them. The Shade swung his blade once again at the Rider, but was surprised as Eragon leaned back away from the deadly silver sword.

Durza gave an uneasy frown as Eragon flung Zar'roc at him with all his might. His silver blade was always there to catch the ruby red sword, but only just. Durza felt apprehension when the boy's swings and slices began to pick up in speed, and his apprehension turned into anger as the boy started to slowly push him back.

Eragon smirked evilly at the Shade as he found a small pebble had glanced his head. Durza looked behind him for but a moment and saw that all the stones Eragon had put into the air were now much closer to him, the Shade glanced at Eragon and he started to growl as he realized what the boy was doing.

"SHARJALVI!" Eragon shouted the word for 'move' in the Ancient Language, and as per his thoughts, the stones all began to fling themselves at Durza, going at him with a speed like when Saphira went as fast as she could. The evil man was currently doing his best to prevent the larger pieces of rock from hitting him.

With the Shade no longer able to keep his focus on one thing at a time, Eragon chose that moment to attack.

Zar'roc flashed through the air towards Durza, and the Shade heard the loud whistle of a blade, but just because he heard it did not mean he could avoid it. The blade cut into his body like a knife through butter, the Rider sword could cut through rocks as though they were paper, so the body of a Shade did nothing but provide a temporary sheath for Eragon's sword.

Durza looked shocked for a moment, as he starred down at the place where his heart had been cut in two, Eragon thought he saw a flash of fear in the former humans' eyes before it was replaced with an expression of absolute glee.

The Shade started to laugh, an evil sound filled with demented happiness, and Eragon grabbed his sword and moved back cautiously as the Shade's body began to bubble and drip with a strange dark liquid.

Then Durza exploded.

Eragon cringed as a black fog settled over his immediate surroundings. The Rider worried about breathing in the smoke, but it was unnecessary as a supernatural gust of wind picked up the cloud and it began to fly through the cavern.

Eragon, now entirely breathless and somewhat in a state of shock, could only look down at his glowing gedwëy ignasia. The light blue normally brought a calm to his body, but now it only made him realize exactly what had happened.

Io was dead, but Eragon's wish was fulfilled.

The young Rider walked over to where Aiden was sitting, his body was limp, and the black tattoo had stopped shifting and moving. The strange ink was now firmly stuck on Aiden's skin, Eragon found that not to be the strangest phenomenon of the whole thing. What was stranger than all that was the fact that Aiden's eyes were glowing a faint purple. His hand was resting on Io, and suddenly a black light flowed into her body.

* * *

Aiden awoke with a pounding headache, a strange feeling in his chest, and the warmth of something laying on said chest.

The Guardian rubbed his eyes with his arm, confused to find that no armor was adorning it. Aiden examined his appendage with a bleary-eyed look of curiosity and confirmed that he was not wearing armor, the only thing that was there were his grey scales and his sharp talons.

"Mmmm, Aiden… Why are you awake?" A tired voice murmured from his side, making Aiden jump in his spot as his head turned sharply to the right. The owner of the voice noticed his sudden jump and the tensing of muscles, and turned to look at the Guardian she was currently laying her long neck on. "Something wrong, Hun?"

Aiden felt his chest constrict with phantom pain, something was wrong, something terrible was going on, but for the life of him Aiden could not understand what. Io gazed up at him with a curious look in her amethyst eyes, but her talons did not leave Aiden's chest. The Guardian knew without a shadow of a doubt that nothing could possibly be wrong with the world as long as she was with him, but that did not excuse the strange horror in his very soul when he looked into the eyes of his wife.

* * *

 **AUTHORS NOTES AND SUM SUCH**

 **HOLE LE SHITE!**

 **THAT'S QUITE THE CLIFFHANGER.**

 **Some of you might have seen this coming. Some of you might have had a general idea of this when I mentioned how this is not going to be a Unicorns and Rainbows story. Some of you probably don't even care. This story is a culmination of Aiden's entire life. Sacrifice after sacrifice, and the worst kind of irony in the world. A Guardian who was reborn to die again and again is forced to watch as his best friends die to save HIM.**

 **This chapter is the biggest one I've ever written, and I just want to thank all of you for sticking with me on this almost three-year story. It is a pretty big achievement for me to be able to say that I have a story with 100k, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I hated writing Io's death.**

 **Your Local Marauder: Well thanks for the kind words friend! And the Weapon of Sorrow is definitely not Thorn, what it is will be revealed soon enough. I fully plan for more 'battles' to occur between Aiden and all the more powerful characters of the Inheritance Universe. Thanks for the review!**

 **SethisawesomeGT: Me too man. Me too.**

 **Guest (Chapter 1): Uhm… I will keep that in mind?**

 **Guest (Chapter 14): I think having Destiny elements actually makes the story better. If Aiden didn't have Io then the story would be just kinda, bleh. If Io was not there, then where's the risk? Stitch can just hide and never be killed off if Aiden didn't go full dumb. Io adds risk to the story, as you have no doubt seen from above.**

 **g3a2v2i1n2: I honestly do not want Aiden to be THAT overpowered. He will have his moments where he destroys enemies off the map such as Urgal's, but it will not be a simple 'point, shoot, dead' kind of thing with the major fights. He prefers to use knives and swords, so that's probably how it will be unless things get serious.**

 **Guest (Chapter 7): Nope, Stitch can only revive Aiden. The lore of Destiny is very strict on that, Ghost's can only revive their Guardians. It would be a neat idea, but I generally don't like spitting in the face of heavily established lore if I can help it.**

 **dovah17: Not THE Thorn, just a little Weapon of Sorrow. With the Last Word it is going to be like the game. He got a REPLICA of The Last Word in the beginning, but when his good pal Golden Gun Man gave him The Last Word in Destiny 2, it was not some cute little replica.**

 **/End Of Authors Notes. Thanks for watching!**


	16. Mind

Aiden sprung from the bed as confusion and dread washed over his body. Io jerked up as well, and Aiden wasted no time looking himself over with a more critical eye.

Talons attached to a paw, foot, hand? Aiden didn't know. He was covered in gray scales, each one looking as though it had been through war, each one chipped and cracked. The small plates almost reminded him of his armo-

A burning pain hit his mind. The dragon fell to the floor and clutched his head with his talons, needle sharp claws that could only belong to him scratched at his skull to alleviate the pressure.

"Aiden!" The dragon heard a voice yell out to him, and some of the pressure disappeared then, but it was not entirely gone until he felt Io's wings wrap around him. "Aiden, what's wrong?" Io whispered softly as she dragged her talons down his long neck in a rhythmic pattern. Aiden looked at Io for a few moments in confusion, before his eyes cleared.

"I don't know… I felt, fear, and confusion, and… I'm sorry honey." Aiden apologized sincerely. The previous feelings had left him like a ghost, leaving behind impressions that they were there, but little else.

The thought of ghosts was ridiculous however, they didn't exist.

"I'm sorry for waking you up Io. Why don't you go to bed while I get ready for work? I just had a little bad dream is all." Aiden asked sweetly as he stood to his full height. Had the dragon craned his neck up any higher, his horns would have cut into the ceilings.

The Tower Corporation would not have liked that one bit.

Io looked less than thrilled with the idea, but when she looked into her husband's eyes, she saw nothing but confidence. She turned around and went back over towards the massive dragon sized bed and cuddled up in the blankets, mumbling things about 'crazy dragons' and 'too much coffee'.

Aiden smiled as he saw Io pass into the Void of sleep, but the smile dropped as his thoughts began to drift. The dragon walked his way over towards the bathroom of his apartment. Turning on the light switch blinded his nocturnal eyes for a moment, but when he readjusted, grey orbs meet crystal clear mirror.

Grey scales, grey wings, grey horns, grey tail and grey eyes. Aiden had lived with those things for his entire life, yet the sight of them filled him with an unknown emotion.

He had woken up in a sweat, his heart had felt as though he had tried to outfly a Jumpship. He recalled small fragments of what felt like a dream, but every time he tried to grab hold of those fleeting memories, his head began to ache, and he forgot what he was searching for at all.

All he could really remember was some sort of voice, whispering to him just before he woke up.

 ** _Mine_**

Aiden shook his head and huffed out a puff of smoke. Dreams were fickle and hard to understand, but one thing he did know was that work was around the corner. He was going to be late if he did not get a move on.

Throwing one last hesitant glance at the mirror, Aiden quickly walked across the carpeted floor and opening the door with his claws.

The Guardian turned dragon did not see the small grin his reflection leveled at his back, or the black liquid that began to fall from the reflections mouth, almost like drool.

* * *

Aiden reached the launchpad of his floor in a rush. His clawed feet had almost cut into the marble of the hallway, but the dragon had tried to not damage anymore property as he made his way to the takeoff point.

Aiden saw several Jumpships take off from the docking bay, along with one or two dragons that felt like flying was a more enjoyable experience than being crammed in a ship's cargo bay. Aiden was with the latter.

Aiden stretched his wings and leaped into the air. After a few hearty flaps of his wings, the dragon was in the air and gliding over to the Tower, his place of business.

As Aiden flew over the First City and glanced around at the familiar sights, he had the urge to look to the right and look at the Traveler. His eyes glanced over at where the large orb was, and did a double take when he saw an impossible sight.

The Traveler was gone.

Aiden's mind erupted in agony once again. Something was clawing at his thoughts, trying to force him to forget, to no longer think of the Traveler, the orb in the sky that brought him back from the de-

Aiden's mind cleared. There was no Traveler, no death, dragons were immortal after all.

The dragon shook himself from the pain of the headache, but when he looked down a yell flew from his mouth. Aiden had lost control of himself when the headache hit, so he could not stop his body from dipping in altitude, and the building he was about to hit could not stop him either.

It tried, but failed to keep the dragon from blasting through the durable concrete wall.

The dragon passed out with a concussion, his mind was asleep, but his body was far from gone.

* * *

Eragon and Saphira watched in fascination as Io was covered in the same black energy Aiden had been. It flowed across her like water in a storm, and had he not been horrified, the young Rider would have been amazed at what he was seeing.

Io's body was twitching each time a tendril of inky black shadows touched her body. The shadows went to each of the dragon's wounds, and to the further amazement of Eragon and Saphira, healed them.

The horror and wonder did not end, it only got worse.

Io's eyes snapped open and her body started to jerk and twitch. Eragon and Saphira jumped when they saw what they thought was their dead friend seemingly come back alive. The amethyst dragons' eyes began to search the small room they were in, frantically trying to find something. When those orbs landed on Aiden, they simply stopped.

Eragon and Saphira were so fascinated, they did not notice Arya screaming for them to get away.

They did notice, when Io's tail slammed into Eragon and flung him across the room where Arya quickly caught the flying Rider with a few words in the Ancient Language. Eragon's chest was bruising up already from the hit, and he could feel his ribs aching. Saphira quickly landed next to Eragon, and his partner was acting like a mindless animal, clawing at the stone floor and growling at something.

 _"Io… she's growling at Io."_ Eragon thought to himself as he glanced at the purple dragon. his eyes widened.

Io was _floating_ over her Rider's head, the black shadows holding her aloft also tethered into Aiden's body, looking as though black chains were manipulating the two. Despite the shocking scene, Eragon noticed with confusion that Io's wounds were healing, the vibrant amethyst scales around the wounds turning to a charcoal black.

 _"Saphira, what's going on?"_ Eragon questioned his partner, trying to reach out and sooth her wild thoughts. All he found through their connection was an untamed animal, his best friend was now acting only through instinct, and that instinct saw Io as a threat.

Eragon did not want to know why Io of all creatures would cause his partner to feel so threatened.

"Io!" Eragon shouted as he shakily got to his feet. Arya looked at the Rider in horror, but he ignored that look. He had bigger problems. "Please, you… you were very hurt! You need to lay down and…" Eragon stopped. His eyes widened and his pulse quickened.

Eragon had ignored what was happening around his two friends, the sight of Io _changing_ before his eyes had been enough to gain his attention. It was because of that changing that he missed what else was being changed because of the shadows.

Aiden was changing as well.

The black tattoos on his body started to swirl, move about in strange patterns that might have been mesmerizing had it not made dread come to Eragon's heart. The knife that Durza had planted in the older Riders chest was pulsating and dripping a dark liquid onto the floor. Eragon felt himself grow sick as Aiden lifted a leg and started to rise. The man's head was bowed to the floor, his hood covered his face very well, and the younger Rider wished it stayed that way.

When Aiden looked up, Eragon starred into two red pools of malice and anger. The normal calm grey eyes Aiden had were gone. Replaced with eyes as red as a Shades, with evil to match.

"Eragon… we need to leave." Arya said from next to him. Her hands clutched the Riders arm, and he noticed that she was shaking. "We need to run!" She whispered harshly.

Aiden took notice.

The man tried to walk forward, but he jerked back as something seemed to tug at him.

 _"The chains!"_ Eragon said as he tried to send his thoughts to Saphira, but she was far too gone to recognize the words. Aiden was held back by the chains that were attached to Io. The man looked back at the floating dragon with the utmost annoyance, but the moment was gone as he glared at Eragon and his partner.

 **"Run while you can, Eragon… I cannot harm you, but I will find you… sooner or later."**

"Eragon, please!" Arya was tugging on him now, and he could not resist her supernatural strength. Whatever energy he had found when fighting Durza was gone now, replaced with fatigue and dread.

Eragon started to run, Saphira joined him soon after. They all ran away from their friends like cowards, but what could they do in the face of such terror, such evil?

 _Fight_

Eragon tripped for a moment. He could have sworn he heard a voice.

"Eragon, now!" Arya yelled. The Rider shook himself from the stupor, and began to run again. They needed to warn the Varden of whatever Durza had done to Aiden.

* * *

The shadows around Io solidified for a moment, and once her transformation was complete, she fell to the floor with a thud. The thing that was once Aiden walked up to her with disdain clear on his face.

 **"Such an ugly thing to die for."** It said, kicking the unconscious dragon as though it were trying to get a bit of trash away from it.

 **"Then again… mortals always find attachment in the simplest of places."** It spoke to itself, the first time in millennia that it could reasonably do so. It turned Aiden's head to look at the labored breaths of Io one last time, before it turned away. **"What a humorous joke. 'My kin', ha! After what that Mad God did to you, your nothing more than a shadow of your namesake."**

It walked Aiden's body away from Io, and with a snap of its fingers, the lights in the hall were cut out as tendrils of Darkness surfaced across the room. The only thing that could be seen were two glowing red eyes, filled with malice, hate, and a thirst to punish those that were beneath it.

Aiden would be its tool for destruction, and what a glorious one he was.

* * *

Aiden heard noises.

"Aiden! Please wake up, Aiden!"

"Ma'am, he can't hear you. His mind is far too gone now to understand what you're saying. Please calm down!

"That's my husband! I will not calm down!"

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down, or leave the room."

"Fine, fine! I want to know if he wakes up, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Io, please go outside to the waiting area."

Then, he felt things and saw things.

 _A needle piercing his scales, the feeling of something crawling through his head. Memories flying through his mind and disappearing before his very eyes. New things took their place. Proposing to Io. The wedding. Meeting his best friend Stitch in high school. Joining the Tower Corp and rising through the ranks. Meeting his best friend Cayde-6 and being taught how to fight. Joining the Guardian Security Force to protect the new colonies out in space._

He did not remember doing those things, feeling them. but they were there, so clear in his memories.

Flashes of people dying kept his mind alert. He saw people that felt important to him die, he saw their bodies ripped asunder and their souls be consumed by Hive and Vex and so many other horrible things. He saw the worst Nightmares imaginable come to life and torment him.

The last thought the dragon had before he fell unconscious was how happy he was to have a good life, not the nightmare he had been seeing, not the world of Darkness and agony that seemed so familiar, yet also so fake.

No one could survive such agony, so Aiden was glad he had his life now, his home with Io, his love and happiness.

His mind quieted, and he truly fell asleep, knowing his life would return to him when he woke up.

* * *

"Hey, kid. Wake up so I can eat already." Someone called out to him. He wanted to tell that person to go away, but the need to wake up was stronger. Aiden opened his eyes hesitantly. The blinding white of his surroundings made it hard to focus on any one thing, and the beeping in his ears was also disorienting.

The metal foot kicking his tail also helped.

"You up?" The man said, a familiar robotic tone that Aiden knew well. "Come on lazy, I didn't take a day off to see a vegetable, hurry up and get up so we can eat." He said.

"Morning to you too Cayde…" Aiden grumbled out. His lips were dry, and water sounded extremely nice to have.

"So, how was the fall?" Cayde asked as he started to slurp on something. Aiden could not be bothered to lift his head up and check, but the dragon knew without a doubt that his friend was eating ramen.

"What fall?" Aiden asked quietly as he started to stretch individual parts of his body. For some reason everything seemed to ache.

"Well I don't mean the first fall. I've crashed into a building or two myself, I meant the fifty, maybe sixty foot fall you went through after crashing into the building. Ya feel me?" Cayde said as he stopped his incessant slurping. That left Aiden with the annoying _beep, beep, beep._

"I crashed into a building?" The dragon said as he finally mustered the strength to lift his long neck up. True to his expectation, Cayde sat there in all his glory, holding two bowls of ramen.

"Yup, all over the City New Network too. first time an accident occurred all month." The Exo said with a grin. Cayde then offered up a bowl to Aiden, who hesitantly took it from his friend.

"What happened?" The Exo said after several seconds of Aiden starring at the steaming food. The dragon looked up for a moment, then his gaze fell on the bowl again.

"I remember flying, and looking for… something. Then my mind started to burn, and when I could understand my surroundings better I was flying headfirst into a building I think..." Aiden said quietly. His head hurt even thinking about the event, which was concerning in and of itself. But another question came to him then.

What had he been looking for?

"I don't know what happened. I just felt a lot of pain, and then I guess I fell." He finished. Looking up and seeing a slight frown on the metal face of his friend.

"Well, as long as your fine. Gave us all quite a scare, Io was about to burn the whole floor down when she heard what happened. Blamed herself, said you had a pretty bad incident this morning too." Cayde said to Aiden, then the frown disappeared, and his trademark grin was back. "Weren't drinking too much last night, were you?" the Exo questioned. Aiden laughed; it was the only thing he could do when faced with his friends' antics. Once the dragon calmed down, he prepared to continue the conversation and eat his food, but something stopped him.

Cayde wore his usual clothes. Rustic Explorer gear from the days after the Collapse, where he scoured the badlands of Earth and tried to find a haven for humanity. It was the only thing he ever wore, and as a founder of the First City and Tower Corp, no one cared to argue with him on his appearance. The only thing that brought some controversy was the hand cannon he had on his hip. Tightly holstered away but easy enough for anyone to see. the Ace of Spades, a relic of when humanity had more than just politics to deal with.

Aiden looked at that hand cannon, and his head began to ache again. The pain was not as intense before, but the feelings that came with it were.

Anger, rage, grief, vengeance, sadness. Intense emotions the flowed through his body and made his muscles tense up. He felt like fighting something, he felt like _killing_ something.

 _Every story has an end. This is mine._

Aiden looked up at Cayde. He heard those words, felt them resonate through his soul, but some part of him knew Cayde did not say those words. Not this Cayde. He saw the real Cayde. He felt himself grow faint. He saw _everything._

 _Aiden saw everything. the Barons. Uldren. Cayde. He saw it all._

 _"He didn't feel a thing." The bastard Prince chuckled, a low and evil thing that made the rage Aiden was feeling ignite into a dark hate. The door closed on the Prince before the Guardian could take a shot. He gave up on that, and rushed over to Cayde._

 _Falling to the floor and discarding his Fatebringer, Aiden hesitated on what to do, what to say. Cayde did not hesitate._

 _"How's… How's my hair?" The Exo managed to force out. Aiden flinched when he heard the ragged tones coming from his friend, and the massive hole in the Vanguard Hunters chest. Aiden couldn't find the words to speak, he had not spoken to Cayde since the first year after his rebirth. The Vanguard leader started to chuckle, then let out a small cough. "Speechless. Typical." Aiden flinched again, he tried to speak. But Stitch beat him too it._

 _"Oh no…" He said with a quiver. Aiden looked at his Ghost, his mind pleading with the little Light to give some good news, even though he knew there was nothing good that could be done. "There's nothing I can-" Stitch paused, and the Hunter knew it was over. Stitch looked at him and spoke. "I'm… Sorry._

 _Aiden did not need sorry. Cayde did not need sorry! Aiden wanted to scream, to shout, to yell and howl at the unfairness, to find vengeance against the damned Prince! Not be sorry, not feel sorry!_

 _"Listen, kid." Cayde croaked out with his dying voice. Aiden stopped himself from sobbing, but the anger and sadness was still there. "This… this ain't on you. This… is what I get for… playing nice." The dying Exo started coughing and laughing again. The sound alone was enough to drive Aiden to tears, the small drops of liquid dripped down his head and onto his HUD._

 _"You tell Zavala and Ikora…" A laugh, a look of sadness. "The Vanguard… Is the best bet…" Cayde was no longer looking at Aiden or Stitch, he simply starred off into nothingness. "I ever… Lost…" His Light faded, leaving behind an empty shell._

 _Aiden saw the light die in his mentors' eyes. He saw the life drain from him. He saw in slow motion as Cayde grew limp and his body no longer struggled for breath. Aiden knew within his soul and his heart that Cayde was no longer there. That he was gone and dead._

 _He heard Petra, her labored breathing, her words as she saw Cayde, the realization that he was_ dead _. It did not make him feel better. It only made him realize that two people could not share the same nightmare. That two people could not see the same tragedy._

 _That Cayde was really gone._

 _And all the was left was a cold, dark hate._

* * *

Aiden jerked back to the present. He looked around the hospital room with wild and fearful eyes, and when he found nothing but himself and the beeping of the monitor next to him. He let out a shaky sigh. The memory that Aiden had saw… it felt real, far more real and terrifying than anything he had ever seen before. Cayde had left the room, and some time seemed to have passed since the man had gone.

"What's happening to me...?" Aiden whispered quietly.

"Your resisting." A sharp and sudden voice spoke. Aiden jumped in his large bed, sharp claws digging into soft cotton.

The thud of boots on marble resonated from the dark shadows of the room. Aiden felt fear as the boots came closer and closer to him. The sound of combat boots was hard to miss. The clink of metal armor on plasteel mesh was even harder to ignore. Someone was here, and they were a soldier.

The person came into the light. Aiden's fear was replaced by confusion, his dread gone and instead there was a primal feeling of recognition.

A cloak, metal armor that covered the chest, legs, and head. Bones of some kind that covered the left arm of the man, bleached white and moving softly as though in the wind. A dark helmet obscured all the identifying features of the mans face, but Aiden knew he felt eyes digging into him.

Aiden felt as though he recognized the person, he felt as though he had somehow seen him before, as is he knew him.

"Bet you are pretty confused right now, aren't you?" The man said softly now. Aiden could not find the words to speak, so he simply nodded.

"Alright, lets go kid. I've got a lot of explaining to do and very little time to do it. The man then turned around and walked over towards a window on the far side of the room. Aiden was about to protest, but the man looked back at the dragon before he leapt out the window.

Aiden quickly took off all the wires connected to his body. Removing the needles hurt, but he did not have time to worry about that. Running over to the giant window and jumping out of it, Aiden tucked his wings against his body and went into a steep dive, chasing after the man who was slowly falling to the ground. Too slowly…

Aiden realized quickly that the man was not falling, he was gliding. Using some form of propulsion to keep himself from plummeting to the ground like a bowling ball. The dragon opened his wings and began to slow his descent as well, and soon he was keeping pace with the strange man.

"What are you doing?!" Aiden shouted to the man as they approached the ground. The man only glanced over at the dragon and pointed downwards. The grey dragon had spent a long time around his friend Cayde and he was familiar with people not making sense, but the silent man next to him seemed stranger still. Tense, almost warlike compared to the normal security of the Sol system.

He looked, smelled, and felt like he had seen war. And that scared Aiden.

They both landed soon after. The thud of boots and claws meeting concrete streets. Aiden counted his blessings that no one seemed to have seen their fall. The dragon did not even want to try and explain where the strange man came fr-

"Annnnd he's gone." Aiden muttered as he glanced at the place the man had been before, only to find that he was gone.

Aiden started to sniff the area around him, hoping to find any kind of clues to the man's whereabouts. His search was proving fruitful, until he hit his nose on something in front of him. That he could not see.

"Active camouflage, invisibility if you want to be simple about it." The man said from his position right in front of Aiden. The dragon flinched back in surprise, but his gaze became inquisitive when he saw the near perfect camouflage. Supposedly the only tech capable of making a perfect invisibility cloak was the Warmind Rasputin.

So how did the man get his hands on it?

"Who are you?" Aiden asked seriously. His curiosity could wait, right now he needed answers.

The man deactivated the cloak, and his helmets visor turned to stare at Aiden for several long and uncomfortable seconds. The dragon almost felt as though he had overstepped a boundary, but the mans cool and rough voice made him jerk in surprise.

"I'm a Shadow of a greater Light." And then the man beckoned for Aiden to follow him. The dragon tilted his head in confusion, but he kept pace with the man as he entered a small alleyway.

Aiden had trouble fitting through the small alley, but the man continued on with ease until he got closer to the streets. The dragon could see dozens of people milling about, shopping, eating, or simply taking a stroll.

Aiden felt at home in those streets, they were where he was raised, where he lived his life. Judging from the man's posture, the streets were something far more sinister for him. From what little of his body the dragon could see, Aiden figured that the man was tensing up behind all the metal. The way his helmet jerked to every sudden move, the way he held his arms at his side as though in preparation to draw a weapon.

 _"Must not like crowds…"_ Aiden thought to himself.

The man walked back to the dragon, losing his tense posture with every step deeper into the dark.

"I have a place that we will go to. It's safe, secure, and I can explain everything to you." He said quietly before he reached out and attempted to touch Aiden.

Aiden jerked himself backwards to avoid the hand. The man looked up at the dragon for a moment in what seemed to be surprise, before he lunged forward and put him hand on Aiden.

Aiden knew all about transmatting. He had done it numerous times in his life, and he knew all it took was a single finger touching him for someone to lock onto his signal and take him away to some location.

For the first time in the strange day he had been having. He felt genuine fear.

Aiden felt himself fall to the ground. The man still had his hand on the dragon's scales, but with a quick kick, Aiden found purchase on the mans chest and flung him backwards with the strength of his back legs.

Scrambling to his feet, Aiden prepared to unleash an inferno of fire, before he heard the soft click of a gun being cocked. Right next to his head.

"Better put out those flames, kid. Be a shame if we killed off the only one capable of stopping this mess." A rough and hoarse voice called out next to him, sounding slightly southern. Aiden quickly dispelled his inner flame with but a thought, and he coughed out a wad of smoke as the fire was extinguished.

The gun against his head was quickly put down, although Aiden noticed that it was still primed to take his life.

"Now that we can talk all civil, maybe you should take a seat Aiden. What your about to hear is gonna shake you pretty bad." The man said as he came into full view of Aiden. The southern man picked up the one with bones on his arm, and they both went over to a pair of chairs. The southern sounding man was covered in armor similar to the original man. dark, metal, and he had a strange looking hand cannon on his hip.

Without any real reason to be trusting, Aiden slowly and cautiously walked over towards a large collection of pillows. To the dragon, they seemed as good a place as any to rest and plan his escape.

"You alright there, Arcy?" The southern man asked 'Arcy', who only grunted and sat up. Aiden grinned a small bit as he saw a dent in the chest plate of the man.

"Arcy, who are you then? Flamy?" Aiden asked sarcastically. He was not expecting a real answer, but the southern man nodded anyway.

"For now, that's about right. We don't technically have names ya see. just Shadows of what really is. Much like you." At this, Flamy pointed at Aiden, causing him to raise his eyebrows in confusion. Arcy saw this, and decided to take over.

"We aren't real people. Were representations of a subconscious. Small pieces of a greater whole, and your one too." Arcy said in the same rough way that he always spoke. While they seemed to think that was an explanation, Aiden was still confused.

"Representations of a subconscious? Your trying to say that were, what? Just some personalities in a crazy guys head?" Aiden asked incredulously. His panic and fear were quickly being replaced with exasperation and anger.

He had been kidnapped by _nutjobs._

"Not nutjobs. At least not what society would consider nuts." Arcy spoke up, making Aiden freeze.

"How did you…"

"How did I know what you're thinking? Because I am you, kid. I'm the 'you' that has been overtaken by war. I'm the you that would have given up on trying to find happiness a long time ago. Before you came along, I was running the show, and I'm perfectly okay that you're taking the reins now." Arcy, or War said before he gestured at Flamy.

"I am what can basically be boiled down to your honor, your need to protect, your… let's say your father like nature and leave it at that." Flamy, or Honor spoke up as he laid back in his chair and crossed his legs.

Aiden nodded his head gently, before he started laughing.

War and Honor looked at each other, sighed, and then both stood up and punched Aiden in the face.

"OW!" Aiden cried out at the pain that came from being punched by two metal covered fists. "What was that for?!"

"You ain't taking this seriously."

"So we need to MAKE you take it seriously."

Both men started to advance on Aiden, and he could do nothing as both of them laid their hands on his head, and felt something _push_ into him.

Aiden gasped and fell to the floor. His body began to convulse, and his mind was on fire. It felt like the hospital and when he was flying, only something was not being burned out of him. It was being put back.

Aiden screamed as he saw himself.

 _Aiden ignored the multiple calls from Tower control to stop or be shot down. The Guardian had Stitch send a message to Amanda, and suddenly the alerts stopped. His old Arcadia Jumpship flew into the new Tower hanger bay, and he was unsurprised to find a lot of Guardians aiming at his ship. The only thing keeping them from blowing him apart was Amanda, who was front in center of the hoard._

 _Aiden transmatted out of the ship, a few feet away from Holliday. His helmet was off, and everyone could see the dark bags under his eyes, and the dead look he held._

 _"Aiden… you know you aren't allowed in here. Vanguard was pretty clear on you being banned from the City." His old friend said. He did not judge her for obeying the Vanguard, he knew that sides needed to be drawn, and he did not expect anyone to risk banishment to ally with a 'rogue' Guardian._

 _Aiden sighed out, gently. He had hoped the Vanguard leaders would come see him first, but it had to be Amanda._

 _Stitch, feeling his Guardians inner thoughts, sent a message to the Vanguard leaders. Aiden knew that they had already been alerted to his incursion, but he needed them here for what he was about to show._

 _He needed them there to keep all the Guardians from trying to kill him._

 _True to his expectations. The Vanguard appeared next to Amanda in twin flashes of transmatt particles._

 _Ikora looked at Aiden with a stern, yet pleased expression. She wore her usual attire. Purple robes, a Warlock symbol on her arm, and her shotgun tightly strapped on her back. Aiden lifted his lips in a small smile, before he gazed at Zavala._

 _The Titan Vanguard looked every bit a vengeful god. The man hated orders being broken immensely, and now Aiden was breaking the most important order he had ever been given._

 _Do not return to the City._

 _Aiden laughed on the inside even though nothing was remotely funny. Of course Cayde would find a way to upset Zavala, even in death._

 _"Aiden, you know that you cannot be here. You are lucky I kept the Council from trying to execute you on the spot. Now you come back, and attempt to…" Zavala stopped. And Ikora looked over at the Titan Vanguard curiously, before she went back to examining Aiden._

 _His armor was covered in holes. Arc, Void, and even some Solar energy seemed to have punctured his airtight armor in several place. Ikora felt confused at that. A Ghost was more than capable of patching up any of those holes, yet he had not. The only reason for them to be there was if his Ghost had lost the energy to do so, or the materials._

 _Knowing that Aiden had several dozen supply caches in his Inventory ruled out the latter, but the former was truly terrifying. What battle had Aiden been fighting for his Ghost to run out of energy for repairs? Ikora did not know, but when her gaze finally landed on Aiden's dead, inflamed eyes, she knew something was not right._

 _"Aiden… what happened? Where is Cayde?"_

 _Aiden began to laugh. The surprise of it made several Guardians behind her start to jump, especially Ikora and Zavala. They had not heard much more than labored breathing from Aiden in years. Not a word, not a grunt, not even a laugh from their top Guardian for years._

 _And now he was laughing, but Ikora could clearly see the tears falling from his eyes._

 _When Aiden looked back at them from his demented laughing fit. His smile turned into a frown, and his chest began to seize with sobs._

 _For the first time in half a decade, Aiden spoke to someone other than Stitch or Io._

 _"They killed him." Aiden whispered hoarsely. To Ikora the words were like a gunshot in her ears. To Aiden, they were like uttering a sin._

 _Ikora heard Amanda gasp behind her, and it took her a moment to finally notice what had happened since Aiden had started to laugh._

 _Floating there in the beam of Light flowing from Stitch, was Cayde's body._

 _Zavala started to jog over towards Cayde, but his jog turned into a run. Several dozen Guardians joined him in his journey, and Ikora even saw Amanda run by, tears falling from her face._

 _Throughout it all. Aiden had been on the side, and he had fallen to his knees. Ikora desperately wanted to check on her friend, her ally, her greatest annoyance and her most true friend, but in that moment only one person needed her attention._

 _Ikora walked over to Aiden with tears in her eyes. She fell to her knees in front of him as well, and she brought him into a bone crushing hug as they both mourned the loss of their friend._

 _"He died…" Aiden's sob interrupted his words. "I couldn't save him." Aiden's voice was hoarse, rough and entirely unused, it was expected from not talking for five years._

 _Ikora did not know what to do, so she simply held on to him as years of anguish, rage, loneliness and sadness were finally laid bare before the whole world. Throughout it all, Ikora could only ask herself one question._

 _"What have we done to you...?" the hanger echoed this question again and again, even as shouts for Aiden's final death began to ring throughout the hanger._

Aiden gasped as he tried to take in the missing air his body had been deprived of. His chest was hammering away with the beat of his heart, and deep inside the dragon could feel something _click_ into place within his mind. Memories started to come unbidden to the surface of his thoughts, things that had been taken from him.

He was in an illusion.

"Not just any illusion, I'm afraid." War said as he gazed down at Aiden. The dragon looked up at him deliriously. "Were in what might very well be the most well-constructed mind invasion ever. The thing that put you here not only made a perfect paradise that you would have no reason to break out of, but it also hid several of your most important memories and replaced them with… what could have been." The man spoke softly this time. Aiden could have sworn he had heard that same voice before.

"What… why, just… Why that memory?" Aiden stuttered out.

"From what I can piece together, you accepted something mighty big and powerful into your head kid. Whatever it is, it tore up your mind real heavy. Shattered your subconscious, and we've been spending the past few weeks trying to pick up the pieces." Honor said from his position near a rustic old earth fridge. He grabbed a few bottles of beer and sat down at the couch he had been on previously.

"Few weeks? But It feels like I've been here for, a day? Maybe not even that!" Aiden yelled. He did not even realize he had been yelling, but yelling felt strangely appropriate.

"For us? Whatever is running the show could make this whole simulation feel like it has been happening for an eternity. While you were having memories planted in your kernel, we've been fighting off this thing with everything we have. Sometimes literally." When War finished his words, Honor dropped his head as though in some silent prayer. Aiden noticed all of this.

"What do you mean by that? Fighting with everything sounds a lot like you…" Aiden could not finish the words, the thought made him queasy.

Someone had been dying in a fight while he had simply been sleeping the weeks away.

"There were originally five of us, couple a youngins who represented some such stuff in your head. They died a bit before we could all introduce ourselves. We don't know what that will do to you when you get out, but we know that losing you will destroy it all." Honor claimed, after which he took a long drink from his beer, and threw it away once there were no more drops.

Aiden felt the sadness form in his gut. Three people who were essentially him had died. He might have lost some vital part of himself, and he didn't even know who or what they were.

"What can I do to help?" Aiden asked suddenly. His determined gaze reached the surprised ones of his kidnappers.

He did not enjoy the sudden barking laughs from the two armored men one bit.

"You!? Fightin a battle that your most powerful aspects couldn't even tussle with? Kid I knew you had guts, but there's a difference between showing them and spewing em on a pavement for all to see." Honor finished his laughing fit, and then War joined in.

"He's right. If you die, then this whole place collapses around us. We die, you die, and whatever is invading gets kicked out because there is no mind _left_ to invade. That's why it's given you such special treatment. You're the main part of the mind, if you die then everything falls apart." War explained casually as he took a seat next to Honor.

"What do you mean I'm the main part of the mind?" Aiden questioned angrily. He did not like being dismissed so easily, but he also did not enjoy being left in the dark.

"You're the key to this place bucko. From what we can figure, you're the hope, happiness, all that other soapy emotional crap. You're the main component of the real Aiden's mind. The biggest part of his subconscious. The only reason the big man has kept kicking for so long is because he keeps hoping eventually, he'll find peace. Without that, he woulda died after the Dreadnaught." Honor stopped for a moment, before he questioned Aiden. "You do remember the Dreadnaught, right? Where you found the real Io?" Aiden only nodded.

"Were wasting time." War said to Honor. The man only nodded his head a bit before he stood up and walked back to the fridge.

"Why are we wasting time?" Aiden asked as he got up as well. His head clanged on a hanging pipe, making him growl in pain as he glared at the offending metal.

"The invader is getting smarter, quicker on the draw. We hoped that taking you out of its power would give us an advantage, maybe reveal some other hidden part of you that's been hiding like we have. So far we've not had any luck and we sure as hell don't feel any stronger now that you're here." Honor said as he pulled out a massive rocket launcher from the fridge. Aiden widened his eyes when he saw that it was a Gjallarhorn.

"Where did you even get something like that?" Aiden questioned queasily. Gjallarhorn's were highly illegal in every City in the Sol system. Or at least, they were in whatever strange illusion they were trapped in anyway.

"Stole it off of some friendly gang members in the ghetto districts. Gotta give this thing props, it really fleshed out this whole world were in." Honor said as he loaded the Gjallarhorn with ammo. Aiden shook his head in exasperation when he realized that he was not even remotely surprised about them owning such heavy ordnance.

"So, what now then? If recovering me was your grand plan, is there anything we can even do now?" Aiden asked as he stood to his full height. His back needed stretched out, but other than that he was fine.

Honor pondered this for a moment, before he looked at War for an answer. Both of them shook their heads as some sort of symbol.

"For now, we hide, run. Maybe find others who have survived and try and fight this thing back." War said as he pulled out his hidden hand cannon and checked its ammo. Aiden squinted at the familiar gun, and his eyes widened as he saw the rough edges and black shards sticking out of Thorn.

War noticed his starring, and gave a grim smile. "War like nature, remember? Thorn is the ultimate tool of destruction, so it fits." The mans smile turned sinister, and Aiden had to take a step back as waves of malice washed over him.

"Can't judge me for using the gun, not after what you did with it." And then he turned around, leaving the dragon to try and reconcile his thoughts. Sadly, Honor cut into his thinking time.

"Don't be mindin him. Guy got the full brunt of your trauma. Using that gun at least gives him some feeling when he's fighting for his life…" The man looked to the side, and sighed. "Sometimes feeling anything at all is better than nothin, dontcha think?" He asked, although Aiden felt that the question was rhetorical. The man went off to another part of the room, leaving Aiden well and truly alone with his mind.

What was left of it, anyway.

Aiden set himself down on the pillows again. Now that he was not trying to understand several of the confusing principles of being in the same room as two fragments of himself, he realized just how tired he was. Strangely enough, Aiden felt more tired than he should have after resting for almost a whole day. The dragon shrugged it off, and laid his head down to hopefully gain a restful sleep.

* * *

Eragon ran full tilt down the hallway as unnatural and dark roars rang out behind him. Soon after they had left Aiden and Io, the shadows around them seemed to come alive, dark forms that resembled animals clawing at the trio as they slashed them down relentlessly.

After passing by several other rooms where the creatures had torn helpless soldiers to bits, Eragon did not want to ponder what would happen to them should they get surrounded.

Another creature fell to the floor several dozen feet in front of them. Arya was quicker in her reaction, and a small light shot towards the beast, causing its form to disintegrate and flake off its central body. This made it easy for Arya to slice her sword across the creature's head and decapitate it.

But it did not last.

Like every single one of the creatures they had killed, it started to reform and collect its scattered parts soon after it was 'killed'. When Eragon checked behind him after running for a few moments, the creature joined the horde of dark monsters chasing after them.

Eragon grunter in exertion, before an idea came to him.

Looking up at Saphira's running form, the Rider uttered a few words in the Ancient Language, and leaped up at his bonded dragon. his magic enhanced jump allowed him to land on his dragon's saddle, where he proceeded to pull out the bow that Aiden had gifted him.

Nocking an arrow in the strange bow, Eragon grinned as a blue flame appeared on the metal arrowhead of his projectile. Without any pause, Eragon released the arrow and watched as it slammed into one of the creature's heads and burned straight through it, striking several other monsters.

Eragon raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then dropped his mouth open in shock as the creature he had struck in the head _exploded_ in a flash of bright blue light.

Eragon looked at the bow in his hands that appeared to be thrumming with energy, and he let out a demented grin as another arrow flew into the horde of creatures, each strike seeming to do the impossible, managing to permanently kill the beasts.

 _"Eragon, look!"_ Saphira shouted through their link. The Rider quickly turned around and tried to spot what his bonded partner was seeing.

Eragon saw exactly what his friend had, and it made his face pale and his limbs grow slack.

The Rider had thought a horde was following him, he had thought it to be a sea of dark and endless hunger. What he saw in the cavern of the dwarfs grand Ruby Rose was even worse. Where the pack behind him was large and scrambled in their pursuit, the literal tidal wave of black figures approaching him made everything want to scream out in defeat.

How could they fight off the wave of darkness approaching them? How could anyone?

Eragon looked down at Arya, who seemed to be having the same thoughts. Although where she looked stricken and afraid to fight, Eragon felt something inside himself rear its head, he felt a strange anger take hold of him.

 _"We will not die here."_ Eragon growled to himself. With a hastily cast spell, Arya flew to him and was quickly strapped into the saddle. Eragon reached out to Saphira and shouted. _"Get us into the air!"_

The words were enough to shake Saphira out of her stupor, and suddenly they were all in the air, avoiding the deadly claws of the shadow creatures by inches.

Now safe in the air, Eragon took in a big gulp of air and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The battle with thousands of Urgal's, fighting the Shade, and running from the monsters below him had drained his stamina quickly. Even though his body was changed after so long of training it, the day had taken almost everything he had left.

 _"Eragon, something is wrong."_ Saphira said urgently as she flew higher and higher into the air. Eragon looked at her in concern, before he saw her gaze was firmly locked below them.

Eragon knew then and there that their problems had only just begun.

The shadows were no longer just animals. Eragon saw several dozen almost take the shape of humans. Soldiers with armor, weapons, blades, axes and more. Even bows. Which were being aimed at them with arrows made of shadow.

"Saphira, get us out of here!" Eragon cried as he summoned energy through his tired body and forced the power to affect the real world through the Ancient Language. Several of the arrows stopped where they were and fell down to the floor, harmless. Some however broke through Eragon's hasty warding, and Saphira growled in pain as they found purchase in her body.

Eragon held on to Arya tight as his bonded partner forced her body to move up, tilting her riders until they both had to hold on or else risk being thrown into the amassing crowd of monsters.

Once they stabilized well out of range from the arrows, Eragon looked over at Arya, who appeared to be shaking.

"Arya, what's wrong?" Eragon asked in concern. While he had only known the elf for a few days, he felt true concern for her, seeing the normally stoic and calm girl acting like she was… it scared Eragon.

 _"Eragon, focus please."_ Saphira reminded him as she prodded her Rider's mental wall gently. A soft nudge that could not be given physically. _"We must find a way through this. There are too many for us to take on."_ Eragon grunted as he realized that Saphira was right. Arya was a capable fighter and excellent in close quarters, but right now those things were useless. They needed something to even the odds. Something that could defeat the shadows below them.

Eragon sighed as he realized that nothing he could think of would be able to stop the horde below him. His bow could only do so much, and he would eventually run out of arrows.

"I don't know how to fight this…" Eragon admitted as he gazed at the flood of shadow. Admitting the truth felt bitter to his heart, but it was also the truth for a reason. Eragon felt his insecurities rise once more as he was faced with a challenge that he could not fight. He could not fight this. The only person who could was being consumed by something foul and dark. "Aiden would have been able to stop this… Aiden could have…" Eragon stopped speaking then. Those thoughts did not help anyone.

 _"_ Actually, Aiden probably would have had a hard time with this too." _Something_ spoke, from _right next to him_. Eragon yelled out in shock as Saphira jerked from her normal flying routine. Arya even looked at Eragon with surprise, before her face turned hostile. Turning around, Eragon saw a small floating cube thing, covered in little triangles with a small blue 'eye' that also had triangles inside it. Eragon grabbed a knife and was about to kill the small thing, but its next words stopped him.

"Wow wow wow! Let's not get all stabby right now!" It protested out, floating a bit away from Eragon and Arya, both of whom were armed with two daggers that could either scratch the Ghost's shell or destroy it.

"Who are you!" Eragon heard Arya snarl in an animalistic voice. The Rider would have been terrified if he was not relieved that the elf had never spoken to him like that.

"Aiden's friend! Traveler you guys are way more violent in person!" The little triangle creature said, making Eragon lower his dagger a fraction of an inch, although he was still on his guard.

"You are friends with Aiden, yet we have never seen or heard a clue about you?" Eragon inquired with a hint of hostility, although his voice lacked the edge that Arya did.

"I'm pretty important to his survival. I wasn't even supposed to reveal myself unless he was there with us, but right now there is more pressing matters then staying hidden. I'm the one who told you that Aiden needed help, remember?" The creature said. Eragon nodded his head slowly as the memory of someone contacting him came to the forefront of his thoughts.

"Why reveal yourself now? What do you hope to accomplish with this?" Arya asked with hostility, Eragon had to keep himself from sighing at her behavior. There was a time to make enemies, and right now was not that time.

"I came out because you're the only person in the whole world who can break through whatever is controlling Aiden. The fool let something in to save Io, and right now it's trying its best to take him over. If it succeeds, this… shadow army will only get worse." The creature explained gravely. Eragon found himself grow pale at the news.

"How can we stop this?" Eragon asked, the question came out more a plea than a demand.

"As you are? You can't hope to stop this." Eragon flinched, but the creature continued on as though it did not notice. "The only way to kill things like this is if you have… special weapons. Your bow is like one, but it can't take all of them out." It finished. Eragon growled out at the reminder of his usefulness.

"I know I can't kill them all! I fail to see how pointing out my weakness helps destroy those abominations!" Eragon felt Saphira growl from beneath him as well. His emotions were rebounding across their link, increasing the anger exponentially.

"If you had weapons like Aiden, do you think you could beat them?" The creature asked suddenly. Making Eragon pause in his angry growling. The question honestly took him off guard.

"I… I do not know. But I would rather try to fight them off then let them slaughter the Varden." Eragon admitted honestly. A glint of determination flashed through his eyes, and the creature nodded as though he had just figured something out.

"That's good. Confidence is key when facing off these kinds of hordes, but weapons play just as important of a role too. Guess its time to lend you some, huh?" Eragon blinked in confusion, and the creature rolled its eye before explaining. "I can give you some of Aiden's weapons to fight them off."

"YOU give him his weapons?" Eragon asked with heat. His words were also mixed with a small bit of envy. Arya only looked on in confusion as the two conversated.

"No, I make sure he can access his weapons. He earned each and every one of them." It explained to them as it peaked over the edge of Saphira and into the floor, where several shadows were currently climbing over themselves to get to them. "And right now, I can't be picky about who I'm lending them too." It finished as its single eye turned towards Eragon.

Eragon glanced at the horde as well before he grimly nodded. "What can you give us?" He asked. The Rider felt Arya tense up behind him, but now was not the time for suspicion and doubt. Now was the time for action.

The floating cube gazed up at Eragon with a look that could only be smug. "Everything."

A small flash occurred in front of Eragon. The Rider did was momentarily surprised, before he recognized the flash for what it was. A small occurrence that happened whenever Aiden made a weapon appear in his hands.

Eragon suddenly had a weapon in his hand. Nothing he was not used to, but the weapon in his arm looked more akin to a piece of art than anything that should be used in battle.

It was a beautiful weapon. The double-edged blade glowed with an aurora of light along its sharp edge, and Eragon felt some foreign power travel through his hands as he held the beautiful sword.

"The Stryker's Sure-hand. Although Aiden just calls it the Stryker."

Eragon nodded slowly as he tore his gaze from the beautiful sword. The Rider felt an odd connection to the blade, something much stronger than what he felt with Zar'roc.

"How will this help him? Going down into that pit is a death sentence, not even the strongest elf warriors of my home could fight off those beasts." Arya stated this as a fact, and Eragon felt his spirit drop at the news.

She was right. No number of powerful swords could stop those creatures.

"See, that's the thing about humans." The little creature said with a smug tone. Eragon leaned away from it as it tried to come closer to him. "Where you see an impossibility, they see a challenge."

Eragon did not feel challenged when he looked down at the pit, he only felt apprehension as the creature started to lay out a foolish plan that would most likely end in their deaths.

A typical day for the Rider, even though it saddened him to say it.

* * *

Velandra looked on in curiosity and worry as the creature possessing Aiden began to summon an army of shadows.

She stayed her hand, resisting the urge to simply banish the creature from his fractured mind. It would take barely a flicker of her power, but that would be all it took to have the eyes watching her turn to daggers that would end her.

The creature was no doubt having a field day inside the Guardian. With his body now at its beck and call, it had access to the strongest person in the entire universe. It's nature as an Ahamkara gave it the power to feed off Aiden's wants, his needs, and use them to shape the world around it into whatever it wanted.

But, Velandra was not overly worried about such an occurrence.

Aiden had proved time and time again that he was not so easily broken. With his soul, with his very being he had defied creatures far stronger than him. He was down, but he was certainly not out.

That was the Goddesses hope. For if he could not fight off his latest threat…

Then everything he knew would burn.

* * *

Aiden awoke from his slumber with a start. War sat above him, with his Thorn waving gently in his hand, aiming directly at the tired dragon.

"It's time to get moving kid." War said as Aiden glanced at the corrupted weapon with a small amount of trepidation.

"Where to exactly?" Aiden murmured as he rose to his full height. The dragon cracked his neck with a stretch, and he felt his body lose its tension.

"Someplace far from here. The big baddy seems to be catching on to us. Looking into the minds of all her constructs and trying to figure out where your hiding, Whole damn City is looking for you." War mumbled the last bit, although Aiden doubted he did not intend for him to hear it.

"How can any of her creations have minds?" The dragon asked curiously as he followed War to a more cluttered section of the building. There was dozens of loosely stacked magazines and newspapers, each one detailing oddly specific news stories. War seemed to ignore the question and carried on while the dragon stopped to read a specific paper.

 _"Exo Man Caught Stealing Hair: Claims Hair Loss Is Bothering Him."_ Aiden read to himself as he rolled his eyes. Strangely enough the paper was spot on, many an Exo decided they wanted hair to liven themselves up. Made them feel more human.

"Quit reading fake news bucko! We have a trip to make an you ain't making it any easier by being a slowpoke!" Honor called out. Aiden nodded his head and went over to a large transport ship that was currently holding several dozen crates, each one looked to hold a large amount of armor and weapons.

Aiden shivered as he caught sight of several familiar pieces. Weapons he had remembered using, several that had been used against him, and one that made him want to burn it to ashes.

"No burning our shit, ya hear!?" Honor shouted as he somehow managed to read Aiden's thoughts again. The dragon grumbled to himself before hastily throwing up a mental barrier.

 _"I need a drink."_ Aiden muttered to himself.

Walking past the crates that were now being transmatted away, Aiden got a closer look at the ship that seemed barely big enough to hold him. The dragon sighed as he prepared himself for a struggle, getting into the ship would not be fun.

"Oi, get your scaly butt in here!" Honor yelled out. Aiden could only sigh as he prepared himself for the journey, even if he did not know where he was going.

Aiden felt a small headache come on as he entered the cramped cargo bay of the ship. Truly no expense was spared when it came to comfort, but Aiden did not have long to complain as the ship started to lift into the air, thrusters working overtime to get them up into the busy lanes of the First City.

Aiden decided that right then and there, sleep would be preferable to the madness of travel, so he let his mind wander and his body lay into a somewhat comfortable resting position. Soon there was nothing left but a sleep dragon, the noises of engines, and a small whoosh of air as a missile was fired at the cargo ship from a nearby AA gun.

* * *

 **Authors Notes.**

 **Whew. Quite a fun ride we've been having huh kiddos? Aiden got himself into trouble this time. A loving wife, two murderous versions of his subconscious, and a strangely evil creature trying to hunt him down so that she can make sweet passionate love with his brain.**

 **Uh...**

 **Anyway. if you could not tell this chapter was fully meant to set up the next one. several loose ends that were planted there by my devious brain so I could go on to write another chapter that finishes most of those loose ends and wraps it all up in a nice, fragmented, and slightly confusing bow!**

 **For those who care, go check out my page! I've updated it quite a bit, and I have even added a New Stories List, along with a /p a treon/ for those who wish to kill me with kindness! Feel free to check it out if you like what I do and want to know what I plan to do in the future.**

 **InsertNameHere: You shall have that chapter good sir! Enjoy it!**

 **Guest Chapter 15: Sadly, Riven is not allowed to leave her little Sleepy City, Aiden will haver to get wishes from the new Ahamkara.**

 **Midnight Ruins: As long as I can reasonably include the expansion, it WILL be written into the story. The problem with writing any fiction based upon a story that is ever evolving is trying to figure out if any new lore conflicts with what you've previously stated. As an example, in a Drifter lore card it states that Guardians CAN die from hunger, something I have clearly said CANNOT happen. since it is a minor thing, I decided to keep it, for simplicity's sake.**

 **dovah117: Nope, Aiden was NOT Taken, Riven is not at all involved in the story unless it is in a flashback. This chapter should clear up the Io Wife question, and Aiden was indeed a Shadow of Yor, much like many of the Guardians who helped the Drifter with his Gambit. What exactly happened to him with Thorn will be revealed later. I also quite enjoy the season. Very fun to grind.**

 **/End of Authors notes. GET OUT AND GETCHA SUM!**


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